Static
by Chuggs
Summary: After hearing of the romanticized war stories of a particular SOLDIER, a young Cloud sets out to create a name for himself and to impress his childhood sweetheart. Para-military service was not as it had seemed and his love interest reluctantly turns elsewhere.
1. Step One

**Note: I have not played Crisis Core so Don't expect it to follow the story very well. Also this will be a two part story.**

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><p><strong><em>Prologue<em>**

**_WUTAI PROVINCE_**

_"Do you have any idea what's going on?" The boy whispered, his breath showing in the frigid morning air. There was a touch of anxiety in his voice, adding to the already tense moment. The boy sitting next to him, sat up in the crudely dug hole which resembled a shallow crater. A blonde spike dangled in front of his right eye which he quickly shoved back underneath his helmet. His hands were numb so he kept them jammed in his armpits. His feet were much the same but wiggling his toes was all he could do for warmth._

_"No." He whispered back as they both stared out across the frosty and empty landscape. The sliver of moon in the sky gave them little light as they tried to find the source of the commotion. They listened carefully, hearing the faint sound of something being dragged across frozen ground. The two boys looked from side to side, seeing the other young men and women that surrounded them in their own holes doing the same. They exchanged a few worried looks before turning back to their front. Something was about to happen. It had been quiet until now since they had been left ontop of that hill almost four hours ago. _

_"There's something out there..." The first boy whispered. His eyes wide now as he leaned forward and wrapped his hand around the pistol grip of his weapon. "Who's in the listening post?" He asked turning to the other boy._

_"Bradley...Farron?" He guessed as he squinted through the darkness, looking for the small hole 100 meters to their front. He was able to make out the two shivering heads of the people that occupied the listening post but nothing else around them. The patter of feet behind them caused both of the boys hearts to jump. They spun around to see a man dressed in a red overcoat racing towards them. "Sir! I think-" The boy tried warning in a hushed tone._

_"What the hell are you people doing!" The man bellowed as he stopped beside their hole. His uniform was clean and fresh, not dirty and half frozen like the people's around him. He stood painfully high above the hole the two boys were sitting in, naught but their heads showing. "Get out of those damn holes and move! You've been here for four hours, sitting on your asses when you should be moving forward!" He screamed at the teenage soldiers that surrounded him._

_"Yes sir." The first boy responded, casting his fears aside. As the two of them rose from the hole to join their leader, a desperate cry for help was heard coming from the bottom of the hill._

_"Help! They're down here!" Came the plea. It was quickly followed by a painful scream. Before anyone could breathe, the man in red and the first boy collapsed to the ground, a sickly penetrating noise coming from them. The second boy looked to see his friend crumple back into the hole he had just climbed out of, an arrow close to the length of a yard stick protruding halfway out of his neck and out the other man in red lay motionless on the ground, an arrow protruding from him as well. The boy jumped back into the hole as his friend lay dying in the frozen dirt. Gunfire erupted around them, lighting up the night sky. The boy watched as his friend bled profusely from the terrible wound in his neck, unable to make a sound except harsh gurgling noises. The boy looked away, not wanting to look at the horrible scene any longer. He dug his face into the dirt and cuffed his hands over his ears to try and block out the madness. The tug at his pantleg let him know that his friend was trying desperately to get the boy to help him but moments later,the tugging stopped. When the boy opened his eyes he had found that the night was still alit with gunfire but now there were men clad in colourful armour barreling down upon him. The glint of a long skinny metal blade caught his eye, a katanna, which was in the hands of one of the warriors almost on top of him. With mere seconds before his life would be slashed in two, the boy scrambled to find his weapon. Furiously he looked around his hole only to find that his dying friend had fallen on top of it. Before he even had the chance to retrieve it, the warrior was upon him, his war cry blood curdling. The boy fell back into his hole and raised an arm to block the oncoming attack, hardened cold steel flashing in the moonlight as it was directed on him._

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 1: Step One<em>**

**_Two years earlier..._**

His bags were packed and lying dormant by the door. There wasn't much, a duffel bag and a suitcase, all the things he needed. The young boy sat next to the window at the front door, staring out eagerly across the small town.

"It will come..be patient." He heard his mother's voice. She walked out of the kitchen, rubbing her hands on her apron before taking a seat beside him. She ruffled his blonde hair, much to his annoyance and chuckled when he put up a small fit.

"I didn't cut it too short did I?" She asked as he batted her hands away.

"No mom." He said in an irritated tone. The small ponytail he had growing up was finally gone, and his hair was trimmed down to a more proper length.

"You're sure you packed everything you need?" She asked, knowing her mandatory mother questions were irritating him.

"Yes mom. They'll give me everything I need anyway." He told her as he spotted a vehicle approaching the town. "I think it's here.." He drifted off as his eyes lit up. Quickly hurrying to the door, he grabbed his luggage and swung open the door as his mother followed quickly behind. They walked to the center of the town, where a large well sat directly in the middle, to wait for the vehicle.

"Now Cloud.." His mother began as she turned to him. "I know you're set on doing this, but if things don't work out for you, just know that you'll always have a home here. I don't care if you become a big SOLDIER hero or not...I'll always have a bed ready for you." Her smile made him feel embarrassed and he mumbled an 'Okay'. "And you come home every chance you get." She lectured in an motherly tone. "Don't forget about your mother."

"I won't." He promised. Just then, the door to the town inn opened and out poured a dozen people. They all surrounded a young boy, similar to Cloud's age of 14. It was the other boy who was leaving town, Johnny. Cloud was never friends with him but then again he was never really friends with anyone in town. The people that surrounded Johnny were all wishing him good luck and giving him pats on the back while Cloud and his mother stood watching. That's when Cloud spotted her, Tifa, who was apart of the group. His heart fluttered at the sight of her and he quickly looked away to avoid being caught staring. He took a few glances at her, just one last time before he was to go away. She was the prettiest girl he had ever known. Long dark brown hair, hazelnut eyes he'd just get lost in, a smile that lit up his world, and above all, she considered him a friend. Someday, when he had made something of himself, he would return and sweep Tifa off her feet. That was plan anyway and he was just about to take step one.

"Good luck with the Shinra Guard Johnny." Cloud heard Tifa say as the bus pulled up to the town. He hoped she would wish him goodbye before he went, but with everyone else around, if she didn't he would understand.

"Well...this is it..the day you've been waiting for." Cloud's mother said to him as the bus stopped beside them. She leaned over slightly and gave him a big hug. He was embarrassed but this being the last time he would see her for at least a year, he hugged her back. "You be good now and stay safe." She said letting go as she started to tear up. "I love you."

"I love you too mom." Cloud said back a little awkwardly. Picking up his suitcase and duffel bag, he walked up to the bus. Before he stepped on, he stopped and turned to see Tifa staring at him. "Goodbye Tifa." He said quickly before hurrying on the bus.

"I'll miss you!" She called after him as he walked up the steps. Cloud gave a shy little smile before handing his bus ticket to the driver.

"Costa Del Sol?" He said aloud as he read the ticket. "You going on vacation young man?" The old bus driver chuckled.

"No sir, I'm taking a boat across to Junon."

"You're not planning on joining the Shinra Guard are you?" He asked as Cloud nodded. The driver shook his head in disapproval but Cloud paid no attention. Stowing his bags, Cloud took his seat at one of the windows on the small bus and waved to his mom. Once Johnny was seated the bus began to pull away. He waved one last time to his mom and once to Tifa, who waved back, much to his excitement. The bus picked up speed as it pulled onto the main road, his old life slowly disappearing into the mountains. Cloud had never been out of the small town before and already he was becoming slightly homesick. In three days he would be in Midgar and on his way to becoming a SOLDIER. He knew it would take time before he got to that point but it would be worth every minute if it meant that he would be close to becoming like his childhood hero: Sephiroth.

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><p><strong>Slow start but things get hectic. Also in the next chapter be aware there will be some <em>very<em> colourful language.**


	2. Left With Less

**Sorry for the wait, life has been an ass. This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer but I felt bad for how long its been since I updated so I figured I'd fire another one out within the next week.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 2: Left with Less<strong>_

The bus was full now as it pulled up to the outer rim of Midgar. Most of the occupants were teenagers with the odd older citizen. Cloud looked up at the massive expanse that was Midgar. Short of the Nibelhiem mountains, it was one of the most impressive land features he had ever seen. The many tall reactors of the city towered above all else, except the main Shinra headquarters which stood enormously high. The ground surrounding Midgar for miles was dark and lifeless, everything sucked dry by the reactors.

The bus drove past the outer walls of the city and onto the freeway. Soon, Cloud's traveling would come to an end. The past three days had been tiresome but were filled with many sights and things he had never experienced before. The boat ride from Costa Del Sol had been nauseating and quickly became the worst part of the trip. Junon was both interesting and daunting and he was told to expect Midgar to be similar. So far however, Junon paled in comparison to the sheer size of Midgar. Several of the other younger people traveling in the bus were talking about the city as they passed through it, for most of them it was their first time there.

After a short drive, the bus reached a tall government building in a downtown area and pulled to the side of the road.

"Shinra Guard recruiting offices.." The driver said over the intercom. "Those of you joining the Guard, this is your stop." Cloud stood up and stretched before collecting his luggage from underneath his seat. Him and ten other people got off the bus and headed into the tall building. He was glad he wasn't alone, all he had to do was follow the group and he should get to where he was supposed to be going. Inside, there was a receptionist's desk and a waiting area. The first person walked up to the woman sitting at the desk and began talking. Cloud waited patiently behind a group of people as the first person began filling out a few forms. When it came to his turn, Cloud handed the secretary his already completed personal information forms he had filled out back in Nibelhiem when the recruiter had came around. She gave him a small smile and told him to wait for the career manager to come and get him. A little while later, a man walked out of an office and into the waiting room.

"Cloud Strife?" He asked looking around at the group.

"That's me." Cloud said as he stood up.

"Follow me please." The man told him as he led them back into the office. "Please, take a seat." He pointed to the chair in front of his desk. "I'm Marcus, one of the career managers, I'll be talking to you a little a bit about the processes you will be going through and also what paths you are planning to take." He began as Cloud listened quietly. "First off, you have been approved to join the Shinra Guard, so congratulations." He told him with a smile to which Cloud beamed. "Now we need you to pick a trade within the Guard..." He pushed a piece of paper in front of him. "I don't know if you've already had a choice in mind but here's the list."

"I was looking to go infantry." Cloud said as he glanced up from the list.

"Infantry?" The man huffed. "Good choice. That'll make a man out of you." He chuckled as he scribbled on a document. "Do you have any career goals? Something you wish to accomplish in the Guard?"

"Umm.."Cloud scratched his head. "I was hoping to one day make it into SOLDIER." He said with embarrassment.

"Well...that's definitely a good career goal. I hope you make it." The man chuckled as he continued writing on the document. After a few moments he looked up and placed his pen down. "How the next year and a while will work out for you is first, you will go through basic training. That's 15 weeks. Once you've completed that you will go into a holding troop until an infantry course opens for you-also called battle school...which will be very challenging. Battle school is 20 weeks long and is conducted in Junon. After you've finished battle school, you will be posted to any of the Guard's units across the world. It could virtually be anywhere, and you will have no control over where you go." He explained as Cloud listened carefully. "Now, there are only a few postings from which you won't be able to apply for SOLDIER selection but the majority you shouldn't have any trouble applying from." Cloud nodded warily, hopefully he wouldn't get one of those postings. "Depending on when the next infantry course is running, you could spend up to a year in the holding troop once you've completed basic training. I hope for your sake that doesn't happen. That time is usually when guardsmen end up making some poor decisions that get themselves kicked out. But you'll find out all about that once you're there..." Marcus reached into his desk and pulled out a small envelope which he handed to Cloud. "Here, this is your allowance for making the trip. It's also for a cab ride to the Midgar Guard Training Center, or MGTC." Cloud took the envelope as Marcus continued. "A basic course starts tomorrow as planned and you have been loaded on it. Tell the cab driver to take you to the compound's barrack block. Most of them know where it is, once you're there, go inside, talk to the barrack warden and show him your documents...he should set you up with a room." Marcus stood up and stretched out his hand. "Good luck Cloud, I hope everything works out for you."

"Thank you sir." Cloud replied as he shook the man's hand. He stood up to leave and Marcus followed him to the door.

"Oh and Cloud..." Marcus said before he closed the door behind him. "Don't pay any mind to the other recruits who have just finished their course that you see at the barracks...they were you 15 weeks ago." Cloud frowned and nodded slowly before turning and leaving. He collected his bags from the waiting area and opened up his envelope. There was 50 gil inside. More money then he had ever had at one time.

The MGTC was a short drive away and fortunately, the cab driver knew exactly where Cloud was supposed to go. MGTC was a large compound with several large military Shinra buildings, it was home to the 1st Battalion of the MidGuard- Shinra's first and foremost policing and militarized force. MGTC was also where all new recruits passed through for their basic training.

The cab pulled up to the barrack block and stopped at one of the entrances where several people were standing around joking and smoking.

"This is it kid. Last chance to say no.." The driver said somewhat seriously as he turned around and looked at Cloud.

"Here." Cloud handed him the agreed upon sum and got out of the cab. He collected his bags from the trunk and began walking down the walkway to the entrance. The six guardsmen standing at the doorway all looked at Cloud and began talking and snickering quietly amongst themselves. Frowning, Cloud tried not to look at them while at the same time cursing the walkway for being so long. The guardsmen were all much older then him but still boys themselves.

"Hey!" One of them shouted at him as he came closer. Cloud slowed him pace and approached the older boys cautiously. "Hey!" Cloud stopped walking and looked at each one of the boys who had now stopped smirking and were looking very hostile. "Who the fuck are you?"

Cloud blinked and looked down at the ground. "Cloud. My name's Cloud." He answered quietly.

"I didn't ask you for your name, I asked who are you. Now who are you?" The boy growled as he advanced on Cloud.

"Just a recruit." He replied still looking down at the ground.

"How old are you?" The boy asked as he stopped directly in front of Cloud. He was a foot taller then Cloud and had at least 80 pounds on him. He looked to be around 19 and was definitely the alpha male of the group.

"I'm 14." Cloud said looking up into the boy's eyes and giving the hardest look he could. The boy seemed to choke on his tongue and the whole group erupted in laughter.

"You know-" He began as he calmed himself. "I was going to give you a little hell but it's pretty obvious you're going to catch enough of that here on your own. If you make it past 'hell' week, there's something wrong with this world." He laughed as he stepped out of Cloud's way. "Good luck 'Cloud'." He said mockingly as Cloud walked past, humiliated. "Enjoy your short stay."

Cloud gritted his teeth as he walked up the stairs and into the building. The barrack warden, who was an old man with a beard, had an office on the first floor of the three story building. Without as much as a glance he gave Cloud his room key and instructions for the following morning. His room was on the top floor, the halls of every floor were surprisingly clean and tidy, not as much as a boot scuff on the floor. His room door was wide open when he found it and Johnny was inside.

"Oh hey Cloud." Johnny greeted as Cloud entered. "You in this room too?" Cloud nodded and placed his bags on top of one of the four beds. The room was a regular size for a single person to live in and would definitely be cramped with four people. So far only Cloud and Johnny were there. "I'm glad I'll be in here with someone I know." Johnny said as he looked out the window. "You nervous at all...?"

"A little." Cloud said honestly as he sat on his bed and scratched his head. He had never known anything but his quiet little town in the mountains, everything was new and somewhat intimidating. Cloud watched as Johnny fidgeted, he could tell that he was just as nervous. Cloud had known Johnny since they were both very young boys and he never cared much for him. Johnny was always apart of the group which shunned him and now that Cloud was the only person Johnny knew, he acted as though they had been friends, something Cloud despised.

Throughout the rest of the day, more and more recruits arrived at the barracks, all fresh from their own hometowns. Most were young boys and men but there were a few females here and there. The ages ranging from 15 to 25. They all had their own ideas of how basic training in the Guard was going to be and most were cautiously optimistic but that wasn't enough to prepare them for what awaited them during the coming weeks.

It was still dark out when 5 am rolled around. The brand new recruits were still on their own and had been given the responsibility of waking themselves up and getting ready for their first timing of the course. They had until 5:30 to be dressed and outside with all of their luggage they brought with them. Not much sleeping was done during the night as most were kept awake thinking about what was to come.

As the recruits one by one made their way outside, they were met with their instructors, all adorned in blue and gray uniforms. There were ten instructors in blue and four wearing much more gentlemen like red uniforms. They growled at the recruits to line up on the road in rows of three, which they did without question. Once everyone was out on the road, the only sound was the instructors boots as they paced around the group, glaring at each nervous person.

"Pick up your bags, turn to your right and start walking. Follow me and no talking." One of the Guardsmen in red barked as he walked in front of the group. As they walked down the street, the instructors walked alongside, keeping their eyes glued on them, looking for any person talking. After a short walk, they came to a large warehouse which they were quickly ordered to hurry inside to. The 40 candidates lined up in a single line that stretched out the front door, the people in the back looking around the people in front of them to see what was inside.

"Okay listen up!" An instructor in red shouted as he paced up the line. "This is the base clothing stores, this is where you will receive all of your guardsmen equipment and kit. You will be fitted for boots, uniforms, helmets, webbing, everything. The faster you go here, the faster it will get you to the mess hall."

Cloud was one of the very first to go into the building, which was a large open warehouse full of tall shelves of military equipment. He was hurried along from fitting station to fitting station, trying on different sizes of combat boots and uniforms. After he was fitted properly with a uniform, he was made to give up his personal belongings, his two bags being thrown into a pile of other civilian luggage. Ten minutes after he had entered the warehouse, he had been dressed in guardsmen clothing and was carrying two heavy duffel bags full of kit. After signing a few sheets indicating all of the equipment he had signed for, he was rushed out the back door along with several other recruits. There was a crude scribbling on the door as he pushed it open, reading: 'Now exiting the Sausage Factory'. Cloud frowned at the phrase as he stepped out into the early morning air in his new outfit. One of the instructors was waiting for them when they came outside and he told them to wait alongside the side of the building for the remainder of the course to finish inside. Cloud threw his duffel bags down and sat on them, the other four people with him did the same. He looked over to the line of recruits who had yet to enter the building, staring at him and his new uniform.

"Do you know what it meant?" A boy sitting next to Cloud asked quietly.

"What..?"

"What was written on the door."

Cloud shook his head as the boy grinned and pointed at the line of recruits waiting outside, all dressed in civilian clothes.

"We go in different..." He then pointed to the five of them sitting next to the building. "but come out the same." Cloud frowned, still not understanding. "Like a sausage factory...get it? All different types of meat go in but they all come out as the same thing."

"Oh," Cloud huffed with a smirk. "Makes sense I guess."

"My name's Pete, Pete Crawford, nice to meet you." The boy stuck out his hand.

"I'm Cloud." Cloud nodded as he shook his hand. Pete was a couple years older then Cloud but was quite close to his stature and build. His dark brown hair was short and messy, he wasn't the best looking person but he projected a friendly and positive vibe.

"So where are you from?" Pete asked.

"Nibelhiem."

"Nibelhiem? It must be quite the shock to be out here in the big city." He grinned as Cloud nodded. "I'm from Kalm so I've been here lots. Never to this area though-"

"You, shut the fuck up." An instructor snapped as he walked by, kicking Pete's boot. Cloud and Pete exchanged uneasy looks before keeping quiet, they didn't need to get in any trouble on the first day.

Half an hour later and the course had finished their transformation into uniformed recruits. After a trip back to the barracks to drop off their duffel bags, they were once again lined up on the street, thinking now that they might get some breakfast.

"Everyone pay attention," One of the instructors in red began as he walked in front of the formation. "Before we head on over to the training grounds for the formal address by the course officer, we are going segregate each of you into five sections of eight people. These sections are the people that you will be working with the most closely. Each section has a section commander and and a second in command which will be filled by the instructors." He explained while taking out a clipboard. "When your name is called, you will be told what section you are in and you are to go to your section commander." He then pointed to each of the five section commanders and said what section they were in charge of. "When I say your name, the response you will give will be 'Sergeant'. Is that understood?" The recruits all nodded slowly before he began. "Okay..." He looked down at his clipboard. "Charles...1 section. Crawford...4 section. Cunningham...1 section..." He listed off the names alphabetically and the recruits quickly moved to their section commanders. Cloud found himself in 4 section along with Pete and Johnny, which he was quite happy with. When everyone's name had been called, the instructor turned to the section commanders. "Five minutes."

Cloud's commander pulled his section off the road to a small section of grass and lit up a smoke as the 8 young recruits crowded around him. He was an extremely intimidating man, six feet tall, bald, and built like horse. His round face kept only one expression, angry. He took a few drags of his smoke, inspecting each recruit with piercing eyes before speaking.

"I'm sergeant Gallagher, your section commander. This is corporal Carson, my second in command." The terrifying man said as he pointed at the younger guardsmen standing next to him with his arms crossed. "We're all going to get very familiar in the next 15 weeks, if you have any problems or concerns, come to corporal Carson or myself first. I don't get angry easily and I don't like to yell, so if you manage to get me mad, I'll make sure suffer accordingly." He explained in a sort of lazy voice. "You may think I'm trying to scare you but rest assured, you have seen absolutely nothing of what we are capable of doing to you people. I'm not going to bother trying to learn your names right this moment, I'll just forget them in an hour. I've taught on countless basic training courses and corporal Carson has taught on his fair share so I ask you listen to what we have to teach you because we know what we are talking about. We're not here to make friends with you so don't try joking around with us or being kiss asses, we'll have none of that. This course isn't designed to be easy or enjoyable. You'll have some fun during a portion or two once we hit the field but for the most part life is going to suck for the next little while. If any of you are second guessing going through this, let me know now and I'll make sure you're gone by lunch..." Gallagher looked around at the faces of his section, not one look of determination or resolve. He huffed and shook his head at the absurdly young people surrounding him. "Well...we'll see."

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><p><strong>FF 13-2 comes out in a week. I hope its awesome. I'm still going to update even though I'll be busy playing it.<strong>


	3. Another Face In the Crowd

**Lip service, lip service, lip service**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 3: Another Face In the Crowd<strong>_

Cloud quickly glanced at one of the instructors as they paced slowly up and down the aisle of the classroom. He quickly went back to looking straight ahead when he met eyes with the man. The entire course was inside a small classroom awaiting their course officer to come and address them, and it was becoming quite the tense moment. The only sounds came from the boots of the instructors as they paced in between the rows of tables, looking for people doing anything but looking directly to their front. The door at the front of the room opened and a man in a red uniform walked in. As he did, one of the instructors saluted him before he could take his seat.

"Thank you warrant..." The man said as he sat down at the desk. "Good morning course," He began as he cleared his throat. "I'm captain Grant, your course officer. I would like to welcome you all to the Shinra Guard and the BGQ- Basic Guard Qualification course. Everything you do here will be brand new to you and will be challenging, it's not an easy job and is not the most well respected job in the world. Every man and woman in this room has their own reason for joining but that reason shouldn't be for wanting to look good in the eyes of the public. Our job, our primary job, is to serve the Shinra electric power company. Regardless of what you think you are doing is right or not, you do it without question. You're paid to obey, not to ask questions. That's not to say we are bad people, we are just here to fulfill the interests of Shinra." He paused for a moment as he studied the faces of the young men and women in front of him. "Anyway, this course is your first step towards a rewarding career. You will go places and do things that few people ever get to experience. And because of that, we don't want just anyone alongside us. You have to prove to us that you want to be here and that you have what it takes to be here. The next 15 weeks will be very difficult for all of you and I've yet to instruct on a course that has graduated with every candidate it's started with. Now.." He said standing up. "It is common practice that for the first five weeks of the course you will be confined to barracks. That means the only time you will be allowed to leave the barracks is when you are going to the messhall or doing training. You will be working weekends until you prove that you deserve a day off. Physical training will be ran every morning by me at 5:10am, after which time you will go into your regular routine of getting washed up, into uniform and ready for daily quarters inspections. Once inspections are done with, you will head to the mess hall for breakfast and then your classes and training will start. We will run through this cycle for nine weeks. On week ten we go to a small training facility outside of Kalm to conduct field craft and weapons confirmation. Week 11 through 14 are spent entirely in the field where you will put all of your new skills into use. The infamous 'hell' week happens during this stage but you'll find out about that later."

"If I may interrupt you sir.." One of the sergeants asked to which the officer gave him permission. Without warning the sergeant turned to his left and smashed the wooden drill cane he was holding, on one of the long recruit tables. Every person in the classroom jumped at the loud crack of wood. "You!" The sergeant pointed his cane at one of the terrified recruits sitting at the table. "Stand the fuck up." The boy quickly did and stared wide-eyed at the fuming man. "Dozing off while the fucking captain is addressing the fucking course!" He bellowed as the boy trembled, unable to make a sound. "Let's go, outside!" He gave the boy a light whack on the head with his cane and pointed to the door. Having gone white, the boy quickly made his way to the door and out it as the sergeant followed close behind. Another recruit let out a faint snicker at the poor boys expense which unfortunately, the sergeant heard. "You too motherfucker!" He boomed while turning around and racing at the recruit. "You think this is fucking funny? Get the fuck out that door!" He grabbed the boy by the collar and led him out the door before slamming it behind them.

"Is there something more important then listening to the officer!" Another instructor yelled at the course, which was now turned around having just watched the two boys thrown out of the room. "Eyes forward, don't worry about those other two. Continue sir..."

"Thank you.." Captain Grant said as he sat back down at the desk. "Your instructors are here to make sure you receive the proper training you need, I suggest you pay attention to them and do exactly as they say...or you might end up like the two gentlemen outside right now...running around the building with a sandbag above their heads. That's all I have for you, I believe the course warrant has a little spiel for you as well." He said standing up as the course warrant walked to the front of the room.

"Thank you sir." The man said as he stood with arms crossed in front of the course. "Like the captain said, I'm the course warrant-warrant officer Skinner. Just because the word 'officer' is in my rank doesn't mean I'm a commissioned officer, but you'll find out all about that later on. I'm just going to lay down a few ground rules before we leave and get on with the rest of the day. First off, anyone you see in a red uniform, is a sergeant or higher rank and when you speak to them, make sure you have your heels together and arms at your side. The guys in blue are master corporals or lower, you'll learn about rank structure later but for now that's all you need to know. If one of these men tell you to do something, you don't question it in any way, you fucking do it. Life is about to get very hard for you all but we can make it just that much harder if you start questioning orders, talking back or hesitating, and we're very good at making life miserable." Skinner stopped for a moment to look at his watch before continuing. "In 10 minutes we'll head on over to the mess hall for breakfast and then back to the shacks. From there on we'll spend the majority of the day going through all of your new kit, making sure none of its broken and explaining briefly how and what its used for. As with every course, this is all somewhat intimidating, especially when nobody knows each other, so we usually give you the evening to get better acquainted with your section and instructors. I'm not saying a friendly fucking meet N greet, but finding out a little more about the people you'll be going through the course with."

…

Ten minutes. Ten minutes to use the bathroom, smoke, pack up the kit lying everywhere, and be ready and waiting for the section commanders. Cloud glanced around at his room, it looked like a bomb went off. Issued kit lay everywhere. The last five hours had been spent going through each piece of kit the recruits owned, a task that should have taken no more then one hour The extra time, was spent doing some sort of exercise punishment, either for mistaking one piece of kit with another or not paying attention. But they were done now, and for the first time that day, Cloud was able to relax for a moment. While his roommates began shoving equipment back into duffel bags, he breathed a small depressed sigh, the first day wasn't even over and he was already beginning to miss home. No longer in a panicked rush, he happened to notice himself in the mirror and his new uniform. It was a little baggy but he liked the way he looked. For garrison use, the uniform consisted of dark blue cargo pants which had to be bloused, a collared blue shirt that went untucked, and brown combat boots that required polish. For field use, there were two small metal shoulder pads, webbing which also acted as a belt, and an uncomfortable helmet which covered the eyes. The helmet possessed night vision capabilities but was rarely used because of poor performance.

"What are you doing Cloud?" Johnny's voice interrupted Cloud's self admiring. "You should probably start putting your stuff away." Cloud had to admit he looked quite silly staring at himself in the mirror, not to mention they had timings to make. Listening to Johnny's advice, he began packing his things back up.

Once they were done, they waited in the hall for further direction from the instructors. Cloud's instructor, Sergeant Gallagher, strolled up to his section and motioned for them to go into Cloud's room. The nine people hurried into the room and Gallagher took a seat on one of the four beds. "Sit down, stay awhile." He said as he pulled out a pack of smokes. The recruits sat on the beds while some sat on the floor, all keeping a little distance from Gallagher. Cloud still only knew Johnny from his section and also Pete Crawford whom he met earlier that day. "You people can relax, I'm not here to mess with you, this is an informal meeting for us to get to know each other better." Gallagher explained as he lit his smoke. "So, first thing we're going to do is find out who each other is. We're going to go around the room and everyone is going to tell us their name, age and where they're from." Cloud wasn't entirely comfortable with talking in front of so many people he didn't know, especially when one of them was as intimidating as Gallagher. "We'll start with you." He said pointing at Cloud who turned flushed almost immediately.

"Umm..my name's Cloud Str-"

"Just last names, and don't forget your rank." Gallagher interrupted.

"My name's private Strife...I'm uhh 14 years old..." Several of the people huffed and smirked when Cloud said his age, causing him to become even more uncomfortable. "And I'm from Nibelhiem." He finished, grateful his turn was over.

"Why did you join?" Gallagher asked.

"I-I don't know." Cloud's eyes darted around the room as he thought of a reason why.

"You don't know?"

"Uhh..."Cloud scratched his head, feeling like he was about to explode with all those people watching him.

"It was because of a girl..." Johnny commented with a grin.

Gallagher turned and looked at Johnny with a deep frown. "Who the fuck are you?"

Johnny's smile instantly disappeared. "I'm private Ingram-"

"I didn't ask for your name. Someone else is speaking so shut your fucking mouth." Gallagher growled before turning back to Cloud. "I don't think your little face can get any redder Strife." He chuckled as Cloud tried to keep his composure. "I'll let you be for now. Your turn." He said pointing at Pete who was sitting next to Cloud trying to keep from laughing.

"Private Crawford, I'm 16 and was born and raised in Kalm." He said with no trouble.

Gallagher nodded and then moved onto the next person. "You...hellloo?" He waved his hand to get the girl's attention who was busy being amused by Cloud's embarrassment.

"Oh," She said snapping back to attention. " Private Farron. I'm 15 years old and I'm from Junon."

"Well, lucky you, you get to be the only girl in the section." Gallagher commented.

"To be honest sergeant...I don't think I'm the only one." She said slyly while nodding in Cloud's direction. Cloud's eyes went wide and he shot her a dirty look amidst everyone's chuckling, as if he wasn't embarrassed enough.

"Alright, alright, next.." The bald sergeant quieted. They continued going around the room until everyone had finished introducing themselves. Cloud had known his section for less then a day and he already felt like somewhat of an outcast. It had only been one joke directed at him but it was starting to look like these people wouldn't act any different to him then from the kids at home. "So what are the trades in the section? I'm for one, infantry." As Gallagher asked everyone what their trade was, Cloud found that only Pete, Farron, and himself were infantry. Everyone else was either artillery or armored- all combat trades. "Good to know my section is all combat trades." Gallagher commented as he continued ashing his cigarette on the clean floor. "There's always a little inter-platoon rivalry on courses like these. The instructors pit their sections against each other to see who comes out on top. I for one take part in this as well. I don't like to lose and if you people make me look like an idiot, I'll make sure you receive proper treatment." Before he could continue, much yelling and swearing was heard coming from one of the rooms, obviously some recruit had made some miniscule mistake. "Shut the door will you?" Gallagher told Johnny who quickly did. "Anyway, I'm supposed to tell you guys about the leadership within the course. Each section is assigned a 'Section Senior' who is in charge of the section and everyone in it. On top of that, there is also a 'Course Senior' who is in charge of the entire course. The instructors will give this person orders and they will pass it on to the rest of the course and make sure they do it. We do this to rank you on leadership qualities." Gallagher looked at Pete and his eyes narrowed. "You..Crawford right?" He asked to which Pete nodded. "You will be the section senior until I tell you otherwise okay?"

"Yes sergeant."

"Good, your first task is to make a fire picket list for tonight. Our section will be doing all the shifts tonight, I need you to make the list. Two people go at a time for an hour and a half." The sergeant instructed.

"Yes sergeant...but um, what's fire picket?" Pete asked, confused.

"All you do is stay up and watch the barracks during the night. Make sure no one leaves the building, no one comes in, and there's no fires or funny business going on." He explained. "Any questions?"

"Umm, I do have a question but it's not about fire picket..." Pete began to which Gallagher nodded for him to continue. "What exactly are we going to be doing tomorrow?"

"Well tomorrow you'll be learning basic guardsmen skills. Things like how to properly wear a uniform, some drill parade practice, rank structure, and how to prepare your room for inspection. Not very exciting stuff. This goes on for the first week but it picks up after that." He explained. "Any other questions? I'm leaving in five minutes so if you want to know anything else, now's the time." Cloud kept his head lowered most of the time the sergeant was talking, he was listening but he just didn't want to look the man in the eye. "Strife!" Gallagher barked, causing everyone to jump, none more so then Cloud.

"Yes-yes sergeant?" He stuttered, his heart pounding. The man just stared at him before huffing and standing up. Without another word he walked out the door and into the hall. Everyone looked at Cloud and frowned.

"What the hell was that about?" Johnny laughed as Cloud's heart rate slowed.

"Okay guys, before you leave I'm going to make the fire picket list and I want you all to take a good look at it and make sure you know the time you have a shift at and who you're with." Pete told them all as he scribbled on his notepad. When he was finished he ripped the page out of the pad and passed it around. When it came to Farron she raised an eyebrow and shot an accusing look at Pete.

"Hey, you're not on the list." She pointed out with a scowl.

"Two people were left out because the last shift would be only half an hour long so I made the 3 am shift two hours so it takes it until 5am when we get up." He explained

"Sounds pretty convenient for you..." Farron frowned.

"Maybe, but it's my decision." Pete said sternly to which Farron huffed and looked back at the page.

"Oh...and you put me with him." She said as her voice dropped. Cloud looked up to see her pointing at him.

"Is that a problem?" Pete asked crossing his arms.

"No, I guess there had to be a female shift..." She said grinning as Cloud rolled his eyes and shook his head. Standing up, Farron left the room along with the people that didn't live there, heading for their own rooms to get ready for bed.

"I don't like her very much.." Cloud mumbled when he was sure she was out of earshot.

"Don't worry Cloud, I think you're manly." Johnny said mockingly with a slight laugh. Cloud ignored the comment, he was still aggravated with what Johnny said earlier about him joining because of a girl. Cloud was fairly certain Johnny joined because of the same reason.

…

The alarm on his watch sounded and Cloud quickly turned it off. He had barely slept a wink all night and now he had to go for his fire picket shift. It was 3am and the other three boys in the room were still trying to sleep, a faint snoring coming from Pete who slept across from him. Throwing his PT clothes on- blue sweatpants and shirt- Cloud walked out into the hall and down to the very end where Farron already sat. He avoided making eye contact as he sat down in the chair next to her. The course was turning out to have its fair share of awkward moments for Cloud, and this was another one. They both sat there, neither wanting to talk to each other, both praying that a fire would erupt somewhere in the building so they could pull the alarm and end the boredom. Farron began tapping her fingertips on the table they were both leaning against, creating a quiet rhythm. Cloud frowned as he watched, for some reason annoyed that she chose to break the almost complete silence. Letting out a tired sigh, Cloud crossed his arms and leaned his head back to look at the ceiling. It had only been ten minutes so far, it was going to be a very long two hours. His heavy eyelids jolted open when Farron smacked her hand down on the table, causing a clapping noise to echo throughout the hall. Looking down at her, Cloud scowled as she returned the expression. "So..." Was all she said.

"What?"

"I don't know, I asked you first." She said in a bored tone.

"Wha-what? What are you talking about?" Cloud asked in confusion. Farron shrugged before narrowing her eyes and studying him for a few moments. "What?"

"I didn't say anything.." She replied with a frown.

"Well then why are you staring at me?" Cloud asked, becoming uncomfortable with her gaze.

"You have very feminine hair..."

"Yeah well so do you-" Cloud quipped back quickly without thinking. He shut his eyes for a moment and mentally cursed himself for saying such a thing.

Farron giggled softly and shook her head. "I wonder why that is..."

"Just stop talking to me, please."

"I'm not going to sit here for two hours and do absolutely nothing." She told him to which he scowled. Cloud shook his head and went back to staring down the hall, this girl would end up driving him crazy by the end of the course. "Don't tell me you're already stressed out, day two hasn't even begun yet."

"I'm not stressed out, I just don't want to talk to you." He spat. She seemed taken aback at his words but his pathetic hostility kept a grin on her face.

"Look, I know you're not a girl, I was only joking around." Farron apologized. "I just found it funny how embarrassed you got today." Cloud breathed deep and continued looking down the hall. He wished he didn't become so flushed whenever he became embarrassed, it was an instantaneous thing that he had been getting made fun of since he was a little boy. When he didn't respond, Farron finally looked away, deciding to give up.

Cloud looked at his watch, there was now an hour left in the shift. They had been sitting in silence for the better part of the past hour. He had barely slept since he left home five days ago. The lack of sleep, constant anxiety, hunger, and a new environment combined with a completely different mindset was giving him a serious case of homesickness. Thoughts of his mother, their house, even Tifa, were causing a lump in his throat. He was feeling weak again, the same weakness he felt at home whenever he was shunned by the other kids. One of the reasons he left was to become stronger, but the road to get there was much lonelier then he had first thought. Cloud snapped back into reality when Farron's incessant finger tapping grew slightly louder. He watched her mindlessly tap the table before looking up at her face to find her eyes were closed.

"Umm..." Cloud said quietly as he tried to remember her name. Her green eyes opened immediately and looked directly at him. "Oh, I thought you were sleeping. What was your name again?"

"Farron." She replied sleepily before yawning.

"Farron..." He said to himself aloud.

"Or you can call me Claire, I don't really mind which." She told him as she ran a hand through her long pink hair. If this girl didn't seem at all fazed to be there in Midgar on a Shinra Guard course then he sure as hell wouldn't be. He might be on the inside but he wouldn't show it.

"Okay."

"What do you think they'll make us do for PT?" She asked after a few moments passed.

Cloud shrugged, "No idea." Other then hiking in the Nibelhiem mountains, he had never actually done any real exercising in his life, so he had no clue as to what the instructors were going to make them do.

"I hope it's a run...I'm a really good runner." She boasted with a smile.

"That's great..." Cloud replied sarcastically. "What else can you tell me about yourself that I don't want to know...?"

Claire chuckled and shook her head. "Fine, what makes _you_ so fascinating?"

"Nothing does." He scowled.

"Well, then prove me right." She offered.

"What, you want me to talk about myself?" He asked like she was insane.

"Strife, we've been sitting here for over an hour and have barely said a word to each other. I'm bored out of my damn mind. If you don't want to talk because you're still mad about my jokes earlier, that's fine, but we're going to be working together for the next three and a half months so it can't hurt to get to know each other a little better." Claire told him with a touch of exasperation in her voice. "..Or whatever...I'm just bored.." She added as she crossed her arms and slouched in her seat.

"I'm not mad..." Cloud lied, "I just...don't know what to talk about. What did you want to know?" He asked turning to her.

"Anything...where you're from...why you decided to join...? I don't know...anything." She said throwing suggestions out.

"Um, I'm from Nibelhiem."

"I've never been, are the mountains as big as I hear?"

"Yeah...they're mountains..." He said in a condescending way.

Claire sighed in frustration and rubbed her eyes. "I was merely asking...anyway," She said lowering her head but keeping her eyes on him. "So why are you here? What made you decide to do one of the most despised jobs on the planet?"

"I uhh-" Cloud bit his lip as he scrambled to think of a reason why. He wasn't about to share his true motives with a girl he barely knew and didn't entirely like. "I was hoping to one day make it into SOLDIER."

"You?" Claire asked with skepticism.

"Yes me. I'm not saying anytime soon but in the near future." He told her frowning as she huffed.

"Good luck with that..."

"What do you know? You don't know me." He snapped, angry with her scoffing.

"I know you're no different then anyone else here. Sure it's good to have dreams but let's be realistic, it takes a near perfect human being to make it into SOLDIER." She explained calmly amidst the dirty look he was giving her. "Everyone wants to be special so they think 'Oh, well one day I want to be in SOLDIER. I'm not ready now but _someday_ I'll make it.' well guess what? Someday never comes." She told him rather coldly.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Cloud quipped while crossing his arms and looking away.

"You Strife, are just another face in the crowd, just like the rest of us." She said softly with a small grin.

Cloud huffed and shook his head, not believing a single word coming out of her mouth. "And you wonder why I didn't want to talk to you."

* * *

><p><strong>Boring, I know. It will pick up in the next chapter, I just wanted to set the theme. Anyone play FF XIII-2 yet? Thoughts? I like it, I agree with what most of the reviewers say. They seemed to sacrifice some of the story to make in less linear I found. I'm nowhere near finished but the ending(s) have already been ruined for me by a fucking co-worker and now I don't even want to finish the game cause its so tragic.<strong>


	4. One Inch and You Hung Yourself

**Damn, this was my quickest update ever. Six days**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 4: One Inch and You Hung Yourself<strong>_

Cloud yawned sleepily as he listened to the dull drum of the truck's engine. It was dark in the back of the lorry and tiny beams of light shone through the small tears and cuts in the tarp that covered the back of the vehicle. He looked at Pete who sat across from him on the other row of seats. Pete drank from his canteen and as the vehicle drove over a bump, the canteen smacked him in the nose. He swore and put his canteen away before putting his feet on the pile of rucksacks that lined the middle of the lorry. The thirty people in the back of the lorry were silent as they headed back to Midgar, having just finished a day of rucksack marches across the outskirts of the city, they were glad to be on their way home. Cloud's shoulders ached terribly from carrying the heavy weight of his ruck all day and his feet were battered and covered in blisters.

They were on their second month of the course and the training was steadily getting harder. The word weekend meant nothing to them anymore, and the only chance they had to stop and breathe was from 10:00pm until bed every night. There was no comfortable routine they were able to fall into, at every turn someone did something wrong that the entire course ended up paying for.

The lorry drove over another bump, sending troops bouncing around and rucksacks flying. Cloud bounced off his seat and onto the person next to him, who immediately shoved him off.

"Watch it." Claire growled as she sent Cloud back into his seat. He grabbed onto the bottom of the seat as he readjusted his helmet.

"Sorry.." He quickly apologized. Cloud had come to have a sort of fearful respect for Claire. In the past month she commanded a certain amount of authority within their section. She turned out to be one of the few people who adapted rather well to the new life. An understanding of how a unit is supposed to function, as a group, not comprised of individuals, is how she excelled in many ways. There were times when Cloud felt like she should have been instructing on the course. Not because of her knowledge in the training but because she could yell at someone and genuinely make them feel stupid for what they've done. Whenever the instructors yelled it was almost moot point because many times it was for the most miniscule and irrelevant reason. The only aspect Claire struggled with was an attitude problem which had cost both her and the course dearly on several occasions.

"Hey Cloud.." Johnny nudged him as he pointed to the muzzle of Cloud's rifle.

"What?" Cloud looked at his weapon to find mud clogging the muzzle. "Awh what the hell?" He complained as he pulled out his knife and began picking away at the mud. "How did that happen?" He said to himself as he picked away at the dirt. Just then, the driver slammed on the brakes, sending people and equipment flying forward. Cloud's knife slipped off the muzzle and slit open his index finger, blood instantly pouring from the cut. Almost everyone began cursing loudly at the sudden stop. Cloud gritted his teeth and squeezed his hand tight together to try and stop the pain. The sound of the tailgate dropping and the back flap on the tarp being thrown up caused light to pour into the lorry. Before anyone could dismount, much screaming was heard coming from the back of the vehicle.

"Who the fuck said 'dismount'!" The master corporal who had been driving bellowed as he stared up at the recruits from the back of the lorry. "You only fucking dismount once the order has been given. For all you know, we could be pulling away any second!"

Claire made a growling noise before shoving Cloud off of her once again and standing up. "You can't be that concerned with safety when you're slamming on the brakes when you've got troops in the back, master corporal." She challenged as everyone went wide-eyed.

"Who the fuck said that!" The instructor demanded, looking among the mass of troops and equipment for the culprit.

"I did! Private Farron!" Claire yelled at him as he began shaking with anger.

"Claire!" Cloud tried to hush in a coarse whisper. "What are you doing?"

"Come here..NOW." The master corporal said dangerously. "The rest of you...Don't fucking move." Claire wasted no time as she crawled over the other recruits who were sprawled about the lorry. She jumped off the truck and the instructor grabbed her by her webbing, pulling her out of sight. A couple of minutes later the instructor returned. "Get off the truck, leaving your fucking shit." He barked as everyone did so without as much as a thought. "Get on the grass, push-up position. You're all going to wait there until private Farron brings all of your kit up to the 3rd floor of the barracks." Much muffled swearing was heard coming from the course as they got into the push-up position. Cloud looked up to see Claire standing next to the mess-hall, 800 meters away. "Alright Farron! We're waiting on you!" The master corporal yelled to her. She immediately started sprinting towards them as the instructor laughed. "Well! Start exercising fuckers!" Before Claire had even reached the truck, the course had already done 25 push-ups. Not wasting a second, Claire jumped onto the lorry and grabbed two rucks before heading for the barrack doors. She had 30 rucks, 30 weapons, and 30 helmets and webbing to get off the truck and up three flights of stairs. "Fucking move it Farron! The rest of the course is paying for your mistake!" The master corporal yelled after her as she charged inside.

"Goddamit, she needs to keep her mouth shut." Johnny said under his breath to Pete who agreed. Many of the troops had slowed considerably in their push-ups and Claire had not even returned from her first trip.

"Keep going, no one said stop." The instructor growled as he walked in-between the recruits, kicking a few whose backs had dropped. Claire burst out of the building heading for the lorry, still keeping her speed. "Having fun Farron!"

Claire laughed in his face as she ran past him, infuriating him further. She grabbed two more 50lb rucks and ran back into the building.

There was not a person able to do one more push-up by the time Claire had finished hauling their kit inside. Most had to roll onto their backs to get up for their arms were nothing but jelly. "Alright, inside! Shower, get changed, stow your shit, and be ready outside your rooms in 25 minutes." The instructor ordered as everyone hurried inside. "Farron! Stay here, we're going to have a chat..."

Claire was down on her knees gasping for air as her course mates ran past uttering threats. Her limbs burned horribly and her heart pounded harder then it ever had but she still kept her defiant smirk. "On your feet." The instructor said as he stood in front of her. After struggling to get to her feet, Claire put her hands on her hips and chuckled lightly. "Something funny? In case you didn't notice, you just fucked over the entire course." He spat as the smirk slowly left Claire's face. "You have a major fucking attitude problem. Consider this your initial warning." Claire shrugged and wiped sweat from her forehead. "That means you have two more strikes. A formal warning and a formal review, then you're gone."

"I'll be sure not to use them today." She grinned as the instructor's eyes flared up.

"Don't push me, now get inside." He growled as he pointed at the barracks. "Oh, and feel free to write a 1000 word essay on the importance of waiting for the word of command. I'll collect it from you tomorrow morning." He added as she walked away. Claire stopped and gave him one last smirk before heading into the building. Once inside, she took a seat on the stairs and rested for a minute. Upstairs there would be a hail of abuse coming her way, not that she couldn't handle it. She knew she had an attitude problem, she just didn't like taking pointless crap from people who didn't know what they were talking about.

…

The next day, after a lengthy PT session of cross-fit, the course found themselves in class learning about chemical warfare. The classroom was where the majority of trouble stemmed from. Spending the better part of the days running about in frenzy's only to come and sit in a cramped classroom for hours on end made people quite sleepy. Lessons were taught in two phases, the theory phase which was conducted in the classroom, and then then the practical phase which was done in the training area of the base, so plenty of time was kept in the classroom. Dozing off in class was a very serious offense and had many diverse punishments.

Cloud leaned on his hand as he tried to pay attention to the corporal teaching the class on different types of chemical agents. The notebook in front of him was full of random scribblings that he did at different times to make it look like he was taking notes.

"...and so the epinephrine and atropine auto-injectors are used when you become exposed to a nerve agent. Depending on how quickly you use the auto-injector after being exposed to the agent, it can stop the spread of poisons in your body for a certain amount of time. It is not however, any sort of antidote and is only used to give you more time. Both types increase your heart-rate and blood pressure. You may become dizzy, confused, sweaty, have blurred vision, and a whole other set of not-so-good things. You'll feel like you're on meth basically..in some cases." He explained as he looked around the class, his gaze falling upon Cloud whose eyes were barely open. "Strife!" He barked to which Cloud instantly sat up straight.

"Yes corporal?" He responded, wide awake now.

"Come up here. Bring your gasmask." Cloud got up and walked to the front of the class. "Having trouble staying awake?"

"No corporal." He lied.

"Right. You've just been exposed to a nerve agent...what do you do?" He quizzed.

"Um..put my gasmask on-"

"Don't say it, fucking do it!" The corporal growled. Cloud quickly put his stuffy gasmask on and tightened the straps. "Good, I'm now going to demonstrate how to properly inject yourself with the atropine...hold still." He said picking up the small thick needle from the desk.

"Wait wha-" Cloud began to say before the corporal flicked the top off of the small needle and plunged it into Cloud's leg. Cloud yelped and tensed up as the needle punctured his thigh, the atropine flowing into him. He almost screamed as the corporal held it there, waiting for the fluid to empty. Everyone watched in shock as Cloud stood shaking uncontrollably in pain.

"Holy shit.." Claire muttered, feeling quite bad for Cloud.

"It takes five to ten seconds for the atropine to dispense, after which time it takes under a minute to take effect." The corporal explained as he withdrew the needle. "Hopefully that will wake you up.." He said as he winked at Cloud. Several people in the class laughed at Cloud's expense, still not believing that he was just injected with atropine. "Okay, take your mask off and take your seat. Those of you in Strife's section might want to keep an eye on him..." The instructor warned as he turned back to his lesson plan. Cloud sat back down and winced as he held his leg, the needle was thicker then any he had ever received and had left his thigh quite sore.

"You okay?" Pete asked quietly as he leaned over.

"I think so...I don't feel anything yet." He replied a little unsure. He was definitely awake now and wouldn't be dozing off anytime soon. A quick solution they were taught for keeping awake was to stab themselves lightly in the leg with a pen, not enough to break the skin, just enough to jolt you awake...but this had to be overkill.

…

"Are you sure you're okay?" Claire asked Cloud as the course sat in the smoking area outside the building during a short break.

"Umm..." Cloud frowned as he held a hand over his pounding heart. "Not really."

"You want some water?" Claire offered as she handed him her water bottle.

"Thanks.." He took it and drained the whole thing as fast as he could, feeling like his insides were burning up. Claire raised an eyebrow as he returned her empty bottle, starting to becoming mildly concerned about him.

"Okay everyone, break's over...back to the classroom." The course senior for the day shouted. As everyone piled back into the building, Cloud remained leaning against the wall holding his chest.

"Come on, we gotta go." Claire reminded as she went to walk inside.

"Just...just give me a minute.." Cloud said weakly as he leaned on his knees. Without warning, his stomach churned and burned fiercely. Doubling over, Cloud threw up all over the side of the building as Claire watched in disgust. He groaned in pain as his stomach emptied the little food that was in it.

"Oh god, that atropine really messed you up..." Claire sympathized with a twisted face as she watched Cloud convulsing.

"Hey, come on, we need need to get back." The course senior said as he poked his head out the door to make sure he had everyone.

"Just give us a minute..." Claire replied.

"We have to be back right now or we're going to get in shit..." He warned looking at his watch.

"Moore, get out of here, we'll be up in a minute." Claire snapped as she shot him a angry look. Moore swore and went back inside as Claire shook her head in annoyance. "Take your time...you don't look so good." Cloud groaned some more as he collapsed onto all fours and continued dry heaving. After a couple minutes of staring at the cement wishing he would die, Cloud shakily got to his feet and wiped his mouth.

"I don't feel very good..." He squeaked as he leaned against the wall. "My heart hurts.." Claire couldn't help but laugh at him, he looked like the biggest wreck she had ever seen.

"Come on Strife, let's get you cleaned up." She smirked as she held open the door for him. She took him to the bathroom and helped him wipe some of the vomit off of his uniform, nearly becoming sick herself . He drank thirstily from the sink to fill his empty stomach and to wash the crap out of his mouth.

"Thanks Claire..." He thanked weakly, his face having lost all colour.

"You going to be alright now?"

"I don't know, I still feel really sick." He said as they left the bathroom and headed for their classroom.

"There's only two hours left before we head back to the shacks. You can get some rest there." Claire told him as she helped him along the hallway. When they reached the classroom, she opened the door while knocking at the same time. "Permission to enter the classroom." She asked as she looked to the front of the room where the instructor was. It was a different instructor from the one they had early, the master corporal who had made her write the 1000 word essay the day before.

"Where the fuck were you?" He demanded with a furious look.

"Looking after _him_, master corporal." Claire responded as she motioned to Cloud.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" He asked with a frown.

"I'm not feeling so good." Cloud managed to say slowly as they walked into the classroom.

"Did I tell you that you could enter my classroom?" The master corporal spat as they walked in. They stopped immediately and Claire rolled her eyes.

"No, master corporal..." She said in a bored tone.

"Go back and stand at the door." He growled as he pointed to the door. Claire gritted her teeth as her and Cloud went back to the entrance.

"Showing up late to my class, interrupting my fucking lesson, and just walking in here like you own the place..." He fumed as Claire breathed deep to calm herself. "...because Strife 'Isn't feeling so good'" He mocked.

"Corporal Martin shot him up with an atropine injector, he was puking everywhere." She tried to explain.

"I don't give a fuck what corporal Martin did-"

"Okay, that's great. It still doesn't change the fact that Strife is violently ill." Claire interrupted, the instructor shocked that she would cut him off.

"Are you giving me attitude again Farron?" He growled as he stormed over.

"No, I'm-"

"Shut the fuck up!" He screamed in her face. "Strife sit the fuck down...Farron come with me." He ordered as he pushed her out into the hall and slammed the door shut. Cloud stood there helpless for a few moments as everyone watched him. He felt terrible that Claire was being punished for looking after him while everyone else stood by. He sat down next to Pete and they all waited in silence until the master corporal returned by himself five minutes later. "Getting fucking sick of you people..." He grumbled as he walked to the front of the classroom.

"Shit, she's probably really getting it now..." Pete whispered.

…

Cloud looked at his finger, the deep cut from the day before was clogged with carbon and CLP. He grimaced as he stared at the soon-to-be-infected injury. "Whatever" He thought with a shrug, maybe it would get so bad he would be kicked off course and sent home. Turning back to his weapon, which was dismantled, he picked up the upper receiver and began cleaning the inside. The course sat in the hallway of the barracks, just outside of their rooms cleaning weapons. It was just after dinner and the day's hectic activities were dulling. An hour of weapon maintenance followed by a study period before they were off to bed .

"...I'm telling you man...it's going to happen this weekend." Cloud overheard Johnny talking with a few members from their section. "Maybe not the whole weekend but at least one day. We've been doing fairly well lately."

"I don't know...not if you include the past couple days. I doubt they'll give us a day off." Someone commented.

"Well if they do...we're all going out for beers." Pete said as he motioned to the section.

"Not Cloud..." Johnny chuckled. "He's only like 14." Cloud frowned but continued cleaning his weapon.

"Don't worry, we'll get you drunk." Pete smirked as he sat down next to Cloud. "We're not going to let you go another two years without a drink."

"Okay." Cloud responded quietly. He was slowly becoming friends with all the people in his section and he trusted them, if they thought it was a good idea to go out drinking, then it must have been. Looking down the hall, Cloud saw Claire walking towards them, the master corporal who had been constantly giving her trouble was following close behind.

"Hey..Farron's back." Johnny whispered as everyone turned to see. She looked like always, a smug look on her face and a slight strut when she walked. There was a large cardboard box under her arm that was taped shut, appearing to be mail from home.

"Open your mail...then join your section." The master corporal told her through gritted teeth as she walked into her room. Cloud still felt bad for earlier when she was dragged out of the classroom for sticking up for him and he wanted to thank her. Standing up he walked over to her room and knocked on the door.

"Hey Claire?" He said as he stepped inside. She was standing at her desk, the cardboard box open as she stared down at it, not moving. "Get some mail?"

"Shit..." She swore as she slumped into her chair. "Oh..hey Strife."

"What is that?"

"Take a look.." She said pointing at it. Cloud walked over and peered in the open box. Inside was her rifle, completely dismantled, covered in foot powder, and dirty motor oil. "I thought it was a package from home." She huffed as she shook her head. "After I was pulled out of the classroom they told me to leave all my things behind, including my weapon and that my section would take them back to the shacks for me. I can see that you guys brought back everything else for me..." She said looking at her bed, all of the equipment she had that day lying on top of it. "I guess this was just a cruel little surprise for me.."

"Oh damn..." Cloud said quietly as he continued looking at the horrible mess that was her weapon.

"Feeling any better?" Claire asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah..it wore off completely by around dinner. Thanks for looking after me and all...and then sticking up for me when I couldn't myself." He thanked a tad shyly.

"Don't mention it. You _were_ pretty messed up." She grinned.

"Yeah.." Cloud scratched the back of his head. "So uh..what did they do to you?"

Claire shook her head and continued grinning. "Don't worry about it. They think that they're _really_ punishing me but it's really nothing."

"Why do you keep talking back to them?" Cloud asked, curious and concerned.

"The simple things...like if there's a scuff on my boots or if there's dust in my room...then I'll take their pointless yelling and swearing but when I'm getting screamed at for their _own_ stupidity...I just can't keep my mouth shut." She explained with a carefree tone. "They put me on formal warning too, so that means the next time I talk back, I'm most likely out of here.

"I hope not..."

"Oh really?" Claire grinned slyly with a raised eyebrow.

"Well..you know what I mean...who's going to drag me through the rest of this once you're gone?" He joked to which she huffed. They were both silent for a few moments and Cloud could feel another awkward moment coming on."Umm..my rifle is almost done, you want some help cleaning yours?" He asked quickly as he looked back into the box.

"Either way I'm going to be up all night. I have to catch up on all of the lessons I missed while I was busy standing at attention in the captain's office getting yelled at...but yeah, if you don't mind." She smiled as he pulled up a chair next to her and they both began pulling the wreckage of her weapon from the box.

* * *

><p><strong>Brings back fond memories(SARCASM). FYI, if you don't know what a word or abbreviation means feel free to ask. I'll happily tell you to look it up, that's what the internet is for. Hardy har har, Just kidding of course.<strong>


	5. Tales From Trig Suck

__**Stronger then usual language**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 5: Tales From Trig Suck<strong>_

Cloud stepped cautiously into the dank, dimly lit building. The cement walls were old and the paint was peeling from them, giving the inside an eerily touch. He walked very slowly forward into the building, at the end of the hall, a instructor stood with his arms crossed, a gas mask covering his face. In mid-stride, Cloud hit a wall of pain as his face began to burn horribly. Reacting quickly, he shut his searing eyes, stopped breathing, bent down, and ripped his gas mask out of it's case on his leg. He quickly threw it over his head and tightened the straps. Taking a deep breath of filtered air, he began coughing violently as his lungs burned.

"Get over here!" The instructor at the end of the hall yelled at him. Cloud attempted to open his eyes but he felt like someone had maced him. Reaching out, he put his gloved hand on the wall and began blindly following the hall. Every orifice on his face was leaking fluid and the drainage hole at the bottom of his gas mask was dripping steadily onto his front. Finally, he managed to open his watering, blurry eyes and make it to the room at the end of the hall.

"You okay?" The instructor asked.

"Yes.." He coughed while nodding.

"Good, get into the room with everyone else." He ordered while pointing at the room. Cloud walked into the room to find the rest of his section standing in a circle, all coughing just like him. On a table was a hot-plate with a pan, several white pellets on the pan were smoldering and giving off a sinister white smoke.

"Everyone good?" Sergeant Gallagher asked as he stood in the middle of the circle. His section nodded amidst their obvious discomfort. "Great. Its just a little CS gas, nothing that will kill you. We expose you to the gas and then have you do your chemical drills to give you confidence in your chemical equipment. It may suck to wear it but now you know it works...right?" He kept talking as he walked around to each person and handed them a disinfectant pad. "...Any part of your body that was exposed to the gas now needs to be disinfected. Only your hair and face should have been exposed so this shouldn't take long. With your fire-team partner, one at a time remove your gas mask and wipe the disinfectant sponge over your entire head." He instructed. Cloud turned to Pete, removed his gas mask quickly and handed it to him. He tore open his sponge and began wiping his face down as he held his breath. His face began burning again and panic began to grip him. He reached out and blindly grabbed his gas mask from Pete and threw it back on. He took a few deep breaths before throwing the sponge on the ground.

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever done." He tried to say, his words slurred and drool pouring out of his mouth. Pete laughed as he watched the drainage hole leak all over Cloud.

"Man, that's disgusting." He shook his head.

"C'mon, hurry up.." Cloud motioned for Pete to give him his mask. Pete quickly took his mask off and disinfected his face. As he went to grab his mask back, he fumbled with it and dropped it on the floor. Scrambling madly, Pete bent down to try and grab the mask with his eyes shut. The precious few seconds wasted caused him to take in a breath of the volatile air. He began coughing as he found the mask and threw it on. His coughing grew more extreme and soon he was vomiting inside his mask.

"Oh shit, you okay Pete?" Cloud asked as he watched his friend in agony, strings of vomit dangling out of the drainage holes on his mask.

Sergeant Gallagher took notice and began pointing and laughing. "Oh, looks like we got a puker." He laughed. "That's it, let it out Crawford." Pete's mouth piece was filling with vomit faster then it was draining and soon he was choking on his own stomach contents.

"Sergeant!" Cloud called when he noticed Pete choking.

"Alright, everyone outside! Strife get him outside!" Cloud grabbed Pete by the shoulders and headed for the exit that was conveniently placed in the room. He kicked open the door and shoved Pete out, hurrying after him before ripping his mask off. Pete collapsed onto all fours and continued vomiting. His section stood around watching in disgust but feeling sorry for him at the same time. Cloud ripped off his own mask and breathed in the cool fresh air, soothing his burning lungs.

"You okay?" Cloud asked as he bent down next to Pete.

"I-I think so.." He responded shakily.

"Take five, we're going back in when I get back." Gallagher told them as he hurried off. Cloud helped Pete to his feet and handed him his canteen so he could wash out his mouth.

"God, we all look disgusting..." Claire commented as she looked from face to face. Cloud put a hand to his wet face and attempted to wipe some of the fluid off. The front of his chemical suit was covered in mucus and phlegm which he tried to quickly wipe off. He saw Claire gag momentarily as she watched him, no doubt that the mere sight of him was nausea inducing.

"That was the worst experience of my life.." Johnny commented as he wiped disinfectant slime off of his cheek.

"It wouldn't have been that bad but you guys made it bad by puking and drooling everywhere." Claire said, keeping the same repulsed look on her face.

"You look gross too." Cloud told her with a smirk even though she was the best off in terms of looking gross. All of their skin that was exposed to the gas had turned an unhealthy red tint, their eyes were bloodshot and still watering, and they were all sniffing like crazy. The gas was an irritant, designed to attack any pours and moisture on the face, reacting with them and causing a burning sensation but causing no actual harm.

"Whatever." She shook her head.

Gallagher soon returned and they were back in the gas-hut, going over their drills once again and loving life. The course had entered the last training phase, week 13 of 15, better known as 'Hell week'. They had been bussed to a small training area close to Kalm during week 11 to do a weapons confirmation at the range as well as basic field craft before hitting the field for real. The past 3 months had been spent building up to this moment, when they got to do some real training. So far they had learned how to act like proper guardsmen in garrison. They had been doing formation drill on a daily basis, getting in shape with morning PT and afternoon rucksack marches, being tested on everything from First AID to lacing boots, and getting their rooms inspected while at the same time being trashed for having a minor mistake. All of that was important but now they were learning how to function and survive in the field, the part they were all looking forward to but at the same time dreading. The gas-hut was the first day of hell week and was the most feared portion, nobody wants to get gassed and puke inside a gas-mask.

**The next day...**

The column of troops marched down the gravel road, their heavily laden rucks weighing them down significantly. They were in a heavily forested area, a single road winding through it, guiding them to the position they were to occupy. The second they stepped into the training area- A fenced off forest- They were told they were being evaluated and were to remain fully tactical the entire time. An enemy force that consisted of Guardsmen from the MidGuard, were what would be opposing them for the duration of the training. To reach their position, they were to march 13km on a gravel road and expect to be attacked at any point. Only one instructor remained with them for the march, the rest were waiting at the position for them.

"Strife, keep your head up. You'll breathe easier." Gallagher instructed as he marched alongside Cloud, who was breathing heavily with his head down.

"Yes sergeant.." He responded, the major discomfort he was in showing in his voice. It seemed like they had been marching for hours, his feet were killing him and with no end in sight, he felt like dropping out of the column. Johnny was in front of him and Cloud told himself he wouldn't drop out until Johnny did...he wasn't going to let him perform better. The platoon's pointman, leading the column by about 20 meters, halted them and went down on one knee. "Farron." Gallagher motioned for her to check out what the halt was for. She quickly shuffled forward to the pointman and knelt down next to him.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I heard some noises coming from the bushes up there..not sure what it was though." He told her as he pointed to the left side of the road to their front. Claire squinted as she examined the bushes, not seeing or hearing anything. Turning around she shrugged at sergeant Gallagher who was becoming impatient. Turning back to the pointman, movement caught her eye and she looked to see a small orange cylinder spinning through the air lazily towards them. They both remained still as it skipped off the ground and came to a stop five meters in front of them. They looked at each other a moment before back to the orange plastic tube lying on the ground. It resembled a stick of dynamite and a small trail of smoke began spouting from one of the ends. "What the..?"

"That's an artillery sim! Take cover!" Gallagher shouted at them. The orange stick immediately began whistling extremely loud, much like an incoming artillery round. Claire and the pointman hurled themselves backwards, their heavy loads only allowing them to jump a few feet. They hit the gravel on their stomachs as the artillery simulator detonated. The sound was thunderous. Smoke, dust, and flame filled the air around them. Claire's ears were ringing as she lifted her head. The sim was the loudest thing she had ever heard in her life and left her disorientated. Gunfire erupted from where the sim had been tossed, motivating the platoon to dive into the ditch on the right side of the road. Claire pulled the quick-release straps on her ruck, causing it to fall off her back as she got up and dived into the ditch. "Shoot back you idiots!" Gallagher yelled angrily. The recruits raised their weapons and began firing blank rounds in the direction of the incoming fire. Gallagher soon organized two sections to move into the trees to try and flank the op-for while the rest of the platoon returned fire from the ditch. In five minutes the firefight was over, the op-for having vanished back into the forest.

"Everyone back on the road, rucks on. Let's do some after-action." Gallagher instructed as he and the two sections returned from investigating the op-for's position. "Where's Farron and Leslie? You two, come here." Gallagher said as he looked around for Claire and the pointman. "If you freeze up like that again, you're going to get yourselves fucking injured or killed. The artillery sims have a quarter stick of dynamite in them and can do a serious amount of damage. Next time, shout: 'Incoming!' and hit the fucking dirt...got it?" He told them as they both nodded. Claire's heart-rate was still ramped up from the explosion going off so close. Even though it was just a training exercise, she felt just as jittery as if it had been the real thing. "The rest of you...good job on taking cover in the ditch but remember to return fire. We may be firing only blank rounds but act like it's for real...someday you may find yourself getting shot at with actual rounds."

Once they finished with the after-action, the platoon was again rucking it down the winding, gravel road. They ended up being ambushed twice more along the way before making it to their position. The gravel road turned into a narrow trail made of pure sand, making walking just that much harder. The trail brought them to a ridge-line where the rest of the instructors awaited them. The platoon dropped their rucks and shed their sweat-soaked webbing before making a semi-circle around the course officer.

"Afternoon" Captain Grant greeted his exhausted Guardsmen. "You all look a little bagged...and it's only going to get worse. I hope you got as much food and sleep as you could get before you left because you will be receiving the bare minimum of that out here." He told them as their hearts sank, "If you've made it this far it means you're not completely useless. There's 25 out of the original 40 candidates we started with...that means we've been doing our jobs." He grinned as he looked between the other instructors. "Anyhow, welcome to Trig Bend. It's going to be your home for the next week. There _is_ an enemy force out here, which I'm already sure that you know of, so you will be kitted up at all times, fully tactical, noise and light discipline, and you won't be setting up a bivouac area to sleep. Your trench will be the only place you will catch any sleep." He explained, "The first task we'll have you do is dig trenches for you and your fireteam partner. It should take a few hours and then we'll kick off with some field classes." A lorry was parked not too far away and one of the instructors dropped the tailgate and kicked out several shovels.

"Get to it." The corporal barked. Their trench line would stretch along the top of the ridge-line, giving them a good view of the area below them. As they began digging, the platoon found that there was no dirt in the ground, it was nothing but sand, which made the trench walls collapse quite easily.

"Well aint this a pain in the ass.." Pete griped as he shoveled sand out of the trench. Cloud and Claire lay prone next to the trench, watching the line while Pete dug. Their section was down to seven members and Claire had been put in Cloud's fireteam.

"I've got some insane blisters..." Claire commented as she looked at her hand. "On my feet too."

"I know what you mean. If we had to go one kilometer further, I would have dropped out." Pete said as he labored away. Cloud wiped sweat from his forehead, leaving grains of sand behind which he tried to smack off. He was exhausted and starving. Laying on the ground with his head leaning perfectly on his weapon's sights was persuading him to give in and fall asleep. He then remembered the little treat he had brought with him to keep himself awake. Reaching into one of the grenade pouches on his webbing, he pulled out a plastic bag and plopped it in-between himself and Claire.

"What's that?" She asked with a frown.

"Chocolate covered coffee beans." He smirked as he opened the bag and took a small handful.

"Quick," She warned as she quickly took a handful, "Put them away. They told us we weren't allowed to bring anything that would keep us awake." He heeded the warning and shoved the bag back into his pouch. "Those do taste damn good though..." Claire smiled as she chewed on a few. Cloud nodded and they both went back to watching their firing arcs. After five minutes, Pete switched off with him and he laid down next to Claire.

"Um, are there two people on the road?" He asked as he looked down the hill.

"Looks like it.." Claire frowned as she watched the two men walk towards them. The road they were on led up to the hill before it turned left at the base. The men were dressed in foreign looking clothes and carrying weapons, likely the op-for. "What are they doing? They're just walking down the road..."

Pete called to the other trenches, telling them of the two men walking up the road. Cloud dropped his shovel and grabbed his weapon as both Claire and Pete jumped in the half-dug trench next to him. The entire platoon now had their weapons trained on the two individuals, none of them knowing what was going on. The two men stopped at the base of the hill and looked up at the heads of the recruits that were poking out of their trenches.

"We're the United Freedom Fighters of Kalm...and you're trespassing on our territory!" One of them shouted up. "Identify yourselves!"

Cloud looked at Claire and they both gave each other confused looks. "What the hell is this?" He shook his head.

"You! Identify yourself!" The man shouted as he pointed at one of the trenches. The platoon remained silent as they watched the peculiar men. Cloud noticed that the ends of their weapons appeared to have brown tin cans on them. Turning around, Cloud looked at sergeant Gallagher who was sitting against a tree watching calmly. Cloud shrugged at him before turning back to the men on the road.

"We're ordering you to leave this area immediately or we will fire on you!" The man threatened. He waited 10 seconds for an answer before both men raised their weapons and fired. The brown cans on the end of their rifles flew off like projectiles, heading directly for the trench-line. The platoon fired back as the men sprinted into the bushes. The brown cans began to spew purple smoke as they settled on the ground.

"Gas!" Pete shouted over the noise.

"If not, they probably want us to treat it like it is.." Claire replied as the three of them tore their masks out of their cases and donned them. They continued firing as the purple smoke enveloped them and the enemy fire ceased. Eventually, one of the instructors stepped up and shouted for a cease-firing.

"How come your fucking gas masks aren't on!" He bellowed at a few of the trenches that had not donned their masks. "You, you, and you! You're all fucking dead!" He screamed as he pointed at an entire section. "Go limp fuckers, you're dead remember! Everyone out of the trenches and get over here!" The platoon minus the dead section, jumped up and gathered around the fuming sergeant. "I didn't hear one of you people shout 'Gas Gas Gas!', which means that it is also your fault that 1 section is dead." He accused as he pointed at the rest of the platoon. "So it looks like you _**C**_andidates _**U**_nder _**N**_ormal _**T**_raining will have to receive some _**C**_onfirmation _**O**_f _**C**_ombat _**K**_nowledge!" Pete and Cloud looked at each other for a moment and chuckled quietly in their masks. "Fifty meters behind the trench-line, dig a mass grave for the dead section. Oh, and you're still under a gas attack, so leave your goddamn masks on. And at least two people from each section will stay on the line as sentry. Get to it."

"Did he just call us cunts that need to receive cock?" Pete said under his breath to Cloud as the group dispersed.

"I think so.." Cloud nodded as he laughed.

…

Claire shivered as a cool breeze past through her soaked clothes. They had been digging all day, both the grave and the trench and by the time they were done, it was pitch black out. The deceased section had been resurrected only after they were piled into the grave and the first shovel-full of sand had been thrown on them. The temperature was dropping quite significantly since the sun went down and even though it was above 20 degrees Celsius, it felt like it was below freezing with their soaked clothes. And now, with no more activities until the morning, they were left on the trench-line for the night, only allowed to leave in order to relieve themselves.

"Hey," Claire whispered as she nudged Cloud who was nodding off. "It's not your turn yet." She said as she motioned to Pete who was sleeping standing up while leaning on his rifle.

"My eyes literally cannot stay open." He complained as he shook his head to stay awake. Claire grinned and removed one of her gloves before smacking him in the face with it. "Oww, what the hell...thanks." He rubbed his cheek where she hit him.

"Break out the coffee beans." She suggested.

"Good idea." Cloud agreed as he pulled out the bag. "I can't imagine what battleschool is going to be like if basic is this bad."

Claire huffed as she frowned. "Give me a break, this isn't that bad. It's just a big game."

"You're telling me you've done something harder in your life?" He defended.

"Not physically, but this isn't as terrible as most of you make it out to be. I'm sure battleschool will be harder but nothing I can't handle." She said as she took a handful of beans.

"Battleschool's in Junon. That's where you're from right?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, hopefully we'll get time off so I can visit home for a bit."

"That would be nice. I don't know when I'll ever get to go home..." He said a little glumly.

"You miss home?" She asked to which he nodded. "Me too. I don't think my friends or family could ever picture me out doing this type of stuff."

"I don't think my mom would have let me come here if she knew about half the stuff we've done." He chuckled.

"Don't you have a girlfriend or someone waiting for you back home?" Claire smirked, remembering Johnny talking about how he joined because of a girl.

"No" He responded quite defensively, "I don't."

"Oh come on, that's what Ingram was saying. Why are you embarrassed?" She chuckled. Even though it was dark she could tell he was becoming flushed.

"Johnny doesn't know what he's talking about. I have a friend who happens to be a girl back home but that's it." He tried explaining.

"Whatever.." She said as she shook her head and continued grinning.

"Well do you have a boyfriend?" He countered.

"Maybe I do." She said slyly.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm not telling because you're not telling me about your girlfriend." She told him to which he breathed deep with frustration.

"She's not my girlfriend." He hissed.

"Okay..." She said, knowing she was bugging him. They turned back to watching the line, extreme boredom taking over once again. They could hear the faint sound of movement coming from the bushes at the bottom of the hill but they didn't really care. If the op-for did attack them, all they would have to do was shoot back until they left. Regardless, Cloud woke up Pete anyway so he wasn't jolted awake by gunfire. They continued watching the line until what sounded like a rocket shot up into the sky. The night lit up as the rocket turned out to be a flare, lighting the entire area. Gunfire erupted from the bushes around the road at the bottom of the hill and the platoon responded appropriately. One of the op-for members threw an arty sim, which soared through the air and landed within a foot of Cloud's trench. Pete and Cloud ducked down into the trench as they waited for the sim to explode.

"Not this time..." Claire said to herself as she reached out and grabbed the explosive which had started to whistle loudly.

"Claire what are you doing!" Cloud yelled, terrified that she would pick up a stick that was about to explode. Ignoring him, Claire flung the sim back down the hill at the man who threw it at them. It exploded in mid-air no more then a meter away from him. Pete, Cloud, and Claire began firing again with the rest of the platoon until they heard someone screaming cease-fire.

"Shit Farron, I think you really messed up that guy.." Pete said as they all stopped firing.

"Ahh, damn it. I didn't mean to throw it so close." She cursed, angry with herself. "I'm in trouble now..." She said quietly as several op-for rushed to the man she had thrown the sim at. The man was uninjured, his eardrums were blown however.

"Who the fuck threw that!" One of the op-for demanded as he marched up the hill to the trench-line. "Which one of you dumb motherfucking recruits threw that arty sim!" Claire felt her heart pounding, she knew this was the last straw for her.

Cloud turned to her and spoke in a hushed tone. "Don't say anything." He said very seriously. By now, a few instructors had showed up at the scene, demanding the identity of the culprit as well.

"Who threw that?" Sergeant Gallagher barked as he stormed over to their trench.

"That was me sergeant." Cloud admitted as he climbed out of the trench.

"What? No, that was-" Claire began to say, not wanting Cloud to take the blame.

"It was an accident sergeant," Cloud interrupted, "The sim landed in our trench and I tossed it out before it-"

"You dumb motherfucking idiot!" One of the op-for men yelled as he grabbed Cloud by the shirt and shoved him to the ground. "You almost killed someone!"

"Corporal! Back off, I'll handle this." Gallagher assured as he stepped in before Cloud received more abuse.

"I didn't mean to throw it as far as I did, it was an accident." Cloud lied as he picked himself up. Gallagher stared hard at Cloud for a few moments, not pleased with his explanation.

"Get the fuck back in your hole Strife..." He growled darkly. "Corporal," He said turning to the fuming op-for man. "Get back to your man, I'll make sure this is handled." He promised.

"Fucking recruits." He spat as he turned and walked back down the hill.

"Strife..if an arty sim land nears you, don't touch it. It's not meant to simulate a grenade, it's to simulate an incoming artillery round. If one lands in your trench, you get the fuck out of your trench, you don't throw the goddamn thing out." He explained in a calmer tone. "What you did could have gotten yourself killed and you ended up almost killing that op-for guy. In this case though, you were both at fault. They're not supposed to throw the sims into your trenches for obvious reasons but even so...you fucked up royally." He explained as he bent down next to the three people. Claire wanted to speak up, to let Gallagher know that it was her and not Cloud but to do so would be the end of her. "There's no way I can't punish you for this, even though I know why you did it and it was for a good reason. I'll have to talk it over with the course officer, I'll let you know by morning what you'll be doing because of this." Cloud swallowed hard and nodded before Gallagher stood up and left.

"Why did you do that?" Pete and Claire asked him in unison once Gallagher was out of earshot.

"Because you would've talked back and you would've gotten kicked off course...that's why." Cloud told Claire with a scowl as he turned back to watching the line.

Claire's initial anger at having Cloud step up and take the fall for her was slowly melting away. "I can take care of myself, I don't need you to take the blame like that."

"Obviously I do. All you had to do was duck down when that arty sim landed in front of us. But no, you had to get mad and throw it back at the guy. You're always needlessly messing up...and the worst part is that you know what you're doing is wrong yet you still do it...and look, once again someone other then you is paying for it." Cloud spat before taking a deep breath and looking away. The words sunk in and hurt a little because it was all true. For the first time that during that course, Claire felt like she was perhaps one of the struggling recruits. Her only two friends, Pete and Cloud, were starting to despise her from the sound of things and she wasn't the most popular person with the rest of the course. The other two females on the course hated her with a passion, mostly because of her talking down to them for being physically weak.

"I don't think that's really fair." She defended. "Every time I get in trouble it's because I'm either standing up for someone, the entire course, or some idiot instructor is making us do something completely unsafe."

"Yeah well there's a time to speak up and there's a time to keep your mouth shut...and you're the only person who has trouble with that." Cloud told her, a deep scowl still on his face.

"Just think Claire, if no one else is saying something, then neither should you." Pete added.

"Well, I..I don't think..." She stuttered, struggling to find a reasonable argument. "You're both spineless, I'm the only person that has the guts to say what needs to be said."

"You're saying this to the guy that just stood up and saved your ass?" Pete asked, shocked that she would say such a thing after what just happened.

"Well..no but-"

"Farron, just shut up." Cloud hissed. She took the hint, her arguing was getting her nowhere fast. They all turned back to watching the line, Claire feeling extremely uncomfortable standing in-between the two of them.

…

Cloud dropped down to one knee and quickly removed his helmet, the chin strap hindering his breathing. He breathed heavily and stared down at the ground as sweat poured from his face.

"You doing okay man?" Pete asked as he knelt down next to him, watching his friend labor to breathe. Cloud didn't respond, instead he pulled the quick-release straps on his ruck. As the massive weight of the ruck fell off his back, he fell forward onto his face, having been leaning forward to counter-balance the weight.

"Okay, we'll wait here five minutes before we recce the position." Corporal Carson, the 2IC of Cloud's section said as he pulled out his canteen. The seven man section was spread out in a circle beneath a tree to escape the baking hot sun as they waited at one of their rendezvous points. "The security team will wait here while the recce team comes with me, make sure you guys get some water into you."

Cloud had never felt so exhausted in his life. His punishment for the previous night was to wear his ruck during the day long recce while everyone else only wore their battle-rattle. He was also to carry the section's radio, rations, and extra water, making his ruck 75 pounds. Combined with his weapon and webbing, he was carrying over 100 pounds. The section had left early that morning from their defensive position to recce an enemy outpost and they had been bushwhacking for almost five hours. "Strife, put your ruck back on. You're carrying it for a reason." Carson ordered.

"Corporal, let me go with the recce team in place of Strife. He's not going to make it..." Pete offered as he watched his friend struggle to stay conscious.

"It's called a punishment...and it's also not up to me." Carson told him. Pete glared at Claire who was watching sympathetically. It should have been her wearing the crushing weight, not Cloud. "Let's go recce team, you security guys...no fucking sleeping." He warned as he stood up. Cloud's heart dropped now that it was time to move again. He struggled to his feet and wobbled momentarily before catching his balance. The recce team consisted of Cloud, Johnny, Carson, and Claire, who had to walk a further 3km while the security team lay on the ground in the shade. They continued walking through the forest until they reached a clearing where a small group of op-for Guardsmen were located. They were grouped around a few vehicles, appearing to be having lunch. After watching the op-for for several minutes, the recce team back-tracked and started to do an umbrella pattern recce, where they would get eyes on their target, back-track and circle around to get another angle. The whole process took over an hour, as they had to move very carefully and painstakingly slow to remain hidden.

"Get ready to move." Carson said to the security team as he and his team returned from the recce.

"We're leaving already?" Cloud said with blatant discomfort, not having had a break longer then five minutes in the past six hours.

"We have timings to make. Let's go." Carson put it simply, not wanting to argue with the boy.

Carson took them on a different route back to their defensive position, choosing to use worn paths and roads instead of blazing trails through the forest. Cloud was running on pure adrenaline, every ounce of strength had been used getting to the rendezvous point, now he had almost nothing left. Claire could tell he was suffering immensely, he was leaning to one side as he walked, trying to keep the weight off of his left shoulder which the shoulder strap was causing sharp pain to. There was nothing she could do aside from giving motivational comments from time to time, the instructors had made it quite clear that no one was to help him. She was impressed that he made it this far, he was carrying close to his own body weight in gear, while running on very little food and water. "There's the trig marker for trig Bend, we're almost there.." Carson exclaimed, just as glad as everyone else that their trek was almost over. The trig marker was a small tripod shaped metal skeleton with a tiny flag on the top of it. It was placed on the top of the hill of their defensive position which they had passed before they left for the recce. Cloud felt his knees buckling as they neared the marker and he stumbled on a log, causing him to collapse onto his front.

"C'mon, we're almost there..." Claire told him as she rushed over and pulled him to his feet. He was breathing so hard he couldn't speak and he could barely keep his eyes open. He took five more steps before collapsing onto his side next to the trig marker.

"Awh Strife, I thought you were hard as fuck. Don't give up on me now.." Carson encouraged with a grin. Cloud made one attempt to move his battered limbs but they just wouldn't comply. He lay panting as his vision went blurry.

"We'll be right there, just give him a minute." Claire said to Carson as she knelt down next to the exhausted Cloud.

"Two minutes, then I want to see you both back in your trench." Carson told them as he continued walking. Lightning nodded and turned back to Cloud.

"You were so close..." She smirked as she pulled the quick-release straps on his ruck and helped him sit up against the trig marker. Pulling out her canteen, she splashed his reddened face with the remainder of her water.

"Thanks." He said weakly, beginning to catch some of his breath.

"You're a tough guy, I never expected you to ever make it this far."

Cloud would have shrugged but his shoulders were in too much pain."I never should have had to do this in the first place..." He hinted at.

Claire scratched the back of her head and sighed. "I never thanked you for last night, I know if you never took the blame I would probably be on my way home right now." She said softly as she sat down next to him and removed her helmet. "...and you were right...about everything you said. I just never learn I guess. I'm sorry that today was so hard for you...it should have been me carrying that damn ruck."

"Yeah it should have." Cloud huffed with a grin. "But I'm sure you'll make up for it somehow."

"That I will, trust me." She promised. Standing up she wiped sweat from her forehead and leaned against the marker. There was a crude sign that dangled loosely from one of the metal bars that bore the name 'BEND' which someone had crossed out with a black marker. "Suck?" Claire said aloud as she read the name.

"What?" Cloud asked looking up.

"Oh, looks like someone crossed out the trig marker's name and wrote 'Suck' in it's place." She explained.

"Trig Suck...an appropriate name." He huffed.

"Yeah...you almost ready to go?" Claire asked as she reached down and grabbed his ruck.

"I guess..." He replied as he slowly got to his feet, "Time to go sit in a hole for several hours."

"Five days left..." Claire reminded as she began dragging the heavy ruck behind herself as her and Cloud headed back to the trench-line.

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><p><strong>Thanks to all the readers and reviews, it means a lot to get a review from everyone, no matter how small. Hope everyone is enjoying so far, much more to come.<strong>


	6. Plight Of The PATs

**Hey, sorry for taking so long. I was bugged out for the past month and a bit, if anyone knows what that means. Did some of the hardest yet coolest things I've ever done before so I guess it was worth it. It sucks cause I was literally one paragraph away from finishing the chapter before I was called out but whateves.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 6: Plight Of The PATs<strong>_

Teeth gritted, heart pounding, and with her last ounce of strength, Claire forced herself over the berm of the dirt road and up onto the paved highway. She stopped pushing her exhausted body and leaned on her knees as she winced in pain. She looked from side to side, her fellow course-mates walked slowly and painfully past her before shedding their heavy rucks and webbing. Claire dropped hers as well and stood up straight, feeling her strained muscles and joints screaming at her. She sat heavily onto her sweat-soaked ruck and breathed heavily in the baking hot afternoon sun. There was a lorry parked on the side of the road near them and several instructors who had been waiting for them, walked over.

"My god.." Captain Grant, the course officer, began as he looked at his recruits with disgust. "You all look like shit...you smell terrible...you're twenty minutes late...but...you all made it." He said with a sense of pride. "Well done, get some water in you." Claire looked to her left to find Cloud sitting on his ruck as well, rolling and rubbing his aching shoulder while grimacing.

"Hey.." She said to him as he looked over. "It's over." She grinned before reaching into her webbing to retrieve her nearly-empty canteen.

Cloud huffed and allowed himself a smile even through the major discomfort he was in. "Yeah...I guess it is."

Hell week was over. They had marched back out of the training area, their physically and mentally exhausted bodies on the verge of shutting down throughout. For the entire week, less then an hour of sleep was allowed per day, they were only given two meals a day, and there were no ablutions. They all smelled of cordite, bug spray, and body odor. There was sand where there should be no sand, and they had been wearing the same set of clothes for the entire sweat filled week. They had been on countless patrols, section attacks, recces, advance to contacts, rifle ranges, bayonet ranges, tactical withdraws, grenade bay visits, obstacle course trips, ruck march punishes, and night-time raids on the op-for's sleeping area. They had been trained, and trained good. It all seemed like a bit much, for most would end up doing not much more then security jobs.

Claire poured the remaining contents of her canteen onto her hair and face, the luke-warm water doing little to cool her beat-red face. She pulled her hair back behind her ears, days of wearing a helmet and not washing had thrown her sleek hairstyle out the window. The males were a little more fortunate however, many of them simply shaved their heads before coming to the field, choosing not to deal with the greasy mash of hair that accumulates after a few days. Cloud did not, and he was prime example of why many did. Claire smirked and shook her head as she glanced at his ridiculous hair as the entire course piled onto the lorry, soon to be heading back to Midgar.

"Great, I have to look at _that_ for the whole ride back..." She commented with a grin as Cloud took his seat across from her. He frowned and quickly reached a hand up to feel his spikes, only to find them non-existent. He shrugged while smirking at her before leaning his head back and closing his eyes. A three hour sleep while on the road back to Midgar was exactly what he needed.

…

They said their goodbyes, congratulated each other, and recalled memorable events that they had lived through together. It was just another pitch black morning, this time instead of heading for PT, they would be heading their separate ways. Of the original 40 candidates on the course, 20 had graduated. Now they would be off to holding units while they awaited a trade course. Cloud, Claire, Pete, Johnny, and two others would be heading to the infantry holding platoon stationed elsewhere in Midgar. With all of their kit packed, they waited on the sidewalk in front of the barracks for the van that was to pick them up.

"Hard to believe it's only been four months," Pete commented as he sat on his duffel bag, staring down the road, "Felt quite a lot longer."

"Not going to lie, I'm not going to miss this place." Claire huffed while turning around and looking at the barracks with distaste.

"I wonder how the shacks at the holding unit will be..." Cloud thought aloud. "Hopefully single rooms."

"Hey, here comes a van." Pete said pointing to a vehicle turning onto their street. The van pulled up next to them and a uniformed man got out.

"Infantry guys...?" He said looking among the faces.

"That's us." Claire said to him as the six of them grabbed their kit bags. They said farewell to their course-mates before loading into the van, thus ending the basic training experience.

A short 20 minute drive later through the dark city and they were pulling up to another Shinra compound. The main sign at the front gate read, 'Home Station of the Mid-Guard.' The compound was quite large, a dozen large buildings fit inside and there was also a parade square and running track. The van driver took them to a barrack building very similar to the one they had been previously staying at. He brought them inside to the barrack warden's office where they each received a room key, the process feeling quite familiar.

"These shacks seem exactly the same as the other one..." Cloud said as they all walked down the hall, the van driver having just left them shortly ago. "Except..it's much less clean." He was right, there were garbage cans that were overflowing, scuff marks all over the floor, and tracks of mud and dirt everywhere. Music could be heard blasting from several of the rooms in the three story building, and there was much shouting echoing down the halls.

"Whoa..what the hell?" Pete stopped as he peered into one of the open male bathrooms. There was a trail of blood that ran from the doorway to one of the stalls where a person was on his knees vomiting violently into the toilet bowl, his face pouring blood. The group of seven stared mortified into the bathroom at the person in agony. They never took notice of a tall man who was standing in the bathroom watching the person vomiting as well until he moved.

"Don't worry he's fine." The man said as he approached them.

"Uh..what happened?" Pete asked with a frown.

"Just a little drunken scuffle outside with some Mid-Guard guys." He informed as he raised his voice to talk over the sound of his friend vomiting.

"Drunken scuffle?" Claire questioned with a scowl, "It's 5am Wednesday morning..." She said, wondering why they would be drinking at such a time.

"That's PAT for you." The man laughed.

"Well Pat looks a little messed up right now." Pete huffed as he pointed at the bleeding individual.

"I take it you guys are new here." The tall man assumed as he looked at their kit bags. They nodded and he shook his head with a grin. "Okay..well first off, PATs not a guy, it's what we all are. It means 'Personnel Awaiting Training', we're all PATs, and this is PAT platoon."

"What do you guys do here?" Cloud asked.

"Not much.." The man shrugged, "They have us do a few taskings every now and then for the Mid-Guard, but other than that, we just hang out at building Q9 in one of the classrooms for the day."

"And do what..?" Cloud asked raising an eyebrow.

The man shrugged again, this time much more exaggerated. "Nothing. Anyway, I'm going to bed." He said as he walked over and helped his friend to his feet. "It's 5:30, we're supposed to go for PT by ourselves but no one ever does unless they're new. You guys can if you want, breakfast is from 7 til 9. Just make sure your over at Q9 for 10:00 and not drunk. If you need direction to get anywhere just ask someone in your room." The tall individual told them before exiting the bathroom and dragging his friend down the hall. The six brand new PATs stood watching, dumbfounded.

"Oh this place seems great..." Claire said sarcastically as they all went in search of their rooms.

…

Cloud looked around the classroom at the other PATs as they all sat around talking. He kept looking at his watch, they had been there almost an hour and had yet to see anyone of rank.

"So...is anyone here in charge?" Claire asked aloud to Pete and Cloud as she watched some PATs joke about.

"This is ridiculous, I'll find out." Pete scowled getting to his feet. He walked to the front of the room where a desk sat in the corner with a computer on the top. A PAT sat there typing away on the keyboard as he approached. "Hey man," Pete said as he scratched his brown hair. "Is there like someone in charge here or something? The six of us are a little unsure of what is going on."

The person at the desk continued typing for a few moments before looking up at Pete. "Uh yes. I'm the PAT senior. Sergeant Murray is in charge of us but he only stops by once a day."

"So what are we supposed to be doing?"

"You're looking at it." The PAT senior informed at he gestured at the rest of the class. "If they need us to do anything, sergeant Murray will come get us, if not we just stay in here until 2:00pm usually."

"And then what?" Pete asked with a frown.

"And then we're off and we do the same thing the next day." The man at the desk smirked. "We're PATs, we're useless to everyone right now."

Pete continued frowning as he walked away and back to his seat.

"Well?" Claire asked leaning over.

"There's some sergeant in charge of us but he never shows up apparently and in the mean time we just do whatever here." Pete told her.

"Quite different from basic..." Cloud observed.

"Doesn't mean it's a good thing..." Claire scowled as she watched with annoyance at several PATs joking around very loudly next to them.

Over the next few weeks, the new PATs learned some of the reasons why the people of Midgar hated the Shinra Guard, and Cloud realized why he had been warned about what goes on in PAT platoon. Recruits fresh off their basic training, having spent months without a day off, only to come to a place where they had no supervision, no real job and plenty of spending money, found that they could get into quite the amount of trouble.

Weekends after a payday were the worst, when literally the entire barrack block full of PATs took to the streets of Midgar to spend their cheques.

"Why do you want one again?" Claire asked bored as she waited next to Cloud and Pete outside of a store.

"Well, Sephiroth uses one...don't you think they're kind of cool?" Cloud turned from peering in the shop window at the Katanas'. "Besides, I still have a good chunk of money left over from basic." He reasoned, mostly with himself.

"That doesn't mean you have to spend it..."

"Oh come on Claire, let him buy it if he wants." Pete cut in.

"You don't even know how to use a sword, besides, they look fake anyway." Claire said before turning to leave.

"I guess you're right..." Cloud sighed in disappointment. He was in no hurry to spend his money, he just never had so much before and was anxious to buy something. The three of them took off again down the crowded and congested streets of Midgar, looking for interesting shops or places. It was only their second time out in the city, and there was still much to explore. It felt good to go out once in awhile, to not have to wear their uncomfortable uniforms and to get to act like regular people. It was early in the evening and many of the PATs headed for the bar strip, where the trio would be eventually heading.

"It's kind of hard to believe that there is another entire city beneath our feet." Pete said looking down at the ground as they walked.

"The slums...can't be a very pleasant sight.." Claire replied with a frown.

"I hear that there are a few postings for Guardsmen down there, I can't imagine what they would be doing." Pete continued, as they crossed a street to the main bar strip.

"Hey what bar were we supposed to meet everyone at?" Cloud asked as he looked from each of the neon bar signs.

"Oscar Zees." Pete told him as he pointed to one of the signs a couple blocks down. None of them had ever been into a bar before and were all somewhat anxious and intimidated. Cloud felt very grown up as he stepped into the smoke filled atmosphere of the pub. He was 15 now, having had his birthday in the field during basic but he was still one year underage to drink. Claire was still 15 and Pete was the only one of age, being 16. The pub was typical to what you would find anywhere; dimly lit, small, crowded, a few pool tables, and regulars face down at the bar. Pete recognized several people as other PATs before he was waved over to a table by a few.

"Crawford!" One of the occupants of the table shouted to Pete as he neared them.

"Hey fellas." Pete greeted as he sat down next to them, Cloud and Claire doing the same. "This place...doesn't seem quite as bumpin' as you've been describing it.." He told them as he looked around.

"It's still early," One of the PATs responded as he lit up a smoke. "Wait til later."

"What can I get you?" A waitress asked the three people who just showed up as she walked up to the table. Both Pete and Cloud ordered a beer while Claire waved off any drinks.

"You're not going to have a drink?" Cloud asked with a frown.

"Sure aren't." She said quickly. Cloud raised an eyebrow as he waited for more of an answer. "What? Who says I have to? Besides, I'm underage." She stated, taking notice of a widening grin on both Cloud and Pete's face. The two boys looked at each other before back to Claire.

"Whatever." Cloud said while rolling his eyes.

…

Once again, a glass was smashed somewhere in the bar followed by excessive swearing. Claire sighed in annoyance before suddenly standing up. "I'm leaving."

"Why?" Pete asked turning to her.

"This is boring." She told him as she pushed her chair in.

"Well, have a drink, socialize, don't just sit there looking pissed off." One of the PATs told her through slurred words. Her frown deepened and before she could retort, Cloud stood up.

"Okay, we'll see you back at the shacks." He told her, drawing her attention away from the PAT who made the somber comment. "Or do you need me to come with you?"

"No, no I can find my way. You can stay if you want." She said turning to leave. "See you later." The table all gave her a small wave as she left before turning back to their drinks.

"What's up with her?" The person sitting across from Cloud asked.

Pete shrugged as he picked up his glass. "That's Farron for you."

"Seems like a total snob." The person added.

"She's not all bad." Cloud defended, beginning to feel the effects of the couple beers he had done away with. "Just very impatient."

"You got that right.." Pete snorted, "Another round?" He asked everyone to which they all nodded.

Claire jolted awake, much racket and commotion coming from out in the hall waking her. She rubbed her eyes before looking around the dark room. She slept on the bottom bunk of a bunk-bed, and was the only occupant of the room. There were eight beds in total in the room but being the only girl in PAT platoon, she had the luxury of having an entire room to herself. Some yelling and laughing echoed down the hallway outside her room and she scowled with immense annoyance. It was 1AM and was getting tired of being woken up every weekend early in the morning by drunken idiots returning from the bar. After a few minutes of doing her best to ignore the commotion, she swore and forced herself out of bed. Throwing on her PT strip, she swung open the door to her room, blinding light from the hallway causing her to squint. She poked her head out into the hall to find a small group of PATs laughing and talking very loudly next to a garbage can.

"Hey!" Claire shouted at them, a few rooms down. "Can you guys shut the hell up?" Squinting through the bright light, she managed to make out Pete who was on his knees grasping the garbage can for support. Claire grunted in frustration before stepping out into the hall and walking towards the group.

Pete was slowly pulled to his feet by two people, seemingly just as drunk as he. "Farron!" He shouted cheerfully. "Hi!"

"Crawford, seriously what the hell? It's 1AM." She scolded as she walked up to the group of four. "Can you guys just go to bed, please?"

"That's what we're trying to do.." One of the PATs informed through slurred words.

"Did Strife make it back?" Claire asked before turning to go back to her room.

"Who?"

"Strife. You know, the little spiky blonde haired kid."

"Umm.." One of the PATs supporting Pete shrugged.

Pete began giggling as he stumbled to maintain his balance. "Fuck, you guys should have brought him back instead of me. He was _way_ worse off." He laughed as his head drooped.

"You guys left him there?" Claire stopped in her tracks and raised a concerned eyebrow.

"Bedtime!" Pete declared as he was dragged down the hallway.

"Useless..." Claire shook her head as the group continued walking down the hall. She returned to her room and climbed back into bed. She was glad the drunken fools had retired for the night but she was becoming worried for Cloud and him still out by himself. After twenty minutes of peace and quiet, Claire sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. "There's no way he'll make it back himself..." She thought to herself as she looked at the clock on her nightstand once again.

After dressing back into the clothes she had originally gone out in that night, Claire took off for the bar strip in search of Cloud. The whole time she walked, she grumbled under her breath, mostly cursing Cloud for being irresponsible and also herself for even caring. A half an hour walk later and she arrived at Oscar Zees, where she had last seen Cloud. It was nearly last call for the bars and the streets were becoming packed with intoxicated people of all sorts. Pushing open the door to Oscar Zees, Claire quickly scanned the remaining people inside, looking for the easily distinguishable spiky hair. After a few minutes of searching with no luck, she went to one of the bartenders for assistance. "Excuse me," She began.

"Sorry hun, last call was five minutes ago." The older woman told her before Claire could finish.

"That's fine, I'm looking for my friend who was here. He's got blonde spiky hair, have you seen him?" She asked politely. The woman shrugged, telling her there that had been a lot of people there that night and that she doesn't keep track of them. Claire scowled and looked around the bar one last time before heading to the smoke pit at the rear of the building.

"Actually yeah," A drunken smoker began after Claire inquired about Cloud. "I think I saw him with three other guys. They went out the exit like...5, 10 minutes ago...I think?" He informed all though not quite sure. Claire thanked him before pushing open the exit at the smoke pit, revealing a long back alley that ran behind several tall buildings of the downtown. She moved at a brisk pace as she followed the alley, not wanting to be back there any longer that she needed to be. After a few minutes of following the dark and sketchy alleyway, she spotted six people grouped around a small back staircase. Approaching them, she was able to make out Cloud who was sitting on the stairs with his head down. "Hey Cloud!" She called to him, stopping a few meters away. The entire group stopped what they were doing and looked to her, many of them stumbling and struggling to stand properly. Claire quickly flashed her eyes among the group taking notice that a couple were PATs and also of the colorful glass pipe with a string of smoke coming from it that one of them held. "Cloud!" She called to him again, this time louder and more stern.

"Oh! Claire...uh, what um, what are you doing here?" Cloud said weakly as he looked up, his eyes barely open and bloodshot.

"I think it's time for you to go home." She told him as she motioned for him to join her.

"Is everything okay?" One of the PATs asked as Cloud got to his feet. Claire ignored him and quickly grabbed Cloud by the shoulder before leading him away. She looked over her shoulder as she walked and shot an accusing look at the group. "He's 15..." She growled, disgusted that they would be partaking in something like that in front of him. She couldn't get away from the group fast enough, they gave off a very bad vibe and she didn't want to risk confrontation with any. When they turned a corner and were out of sight of the group, Claire stopped and turned to Cloud. She studied him a moment as he frowned at her, unsure of what she was doing.

"Um...what are you doing?" He asked slowly.

"You drunk?"

"I think so...yeah." He responded sluggishly.

"How many beers did you have? Four?" Claire mocked.

"I don't know...five I think. It's my first time..."

"Okay, well what were you doing over there?" She pressed as she pointed back down the alley.

"I uh..I wasn't doing anything. I don't know what they're doing." He explained, but not very convincingly.

"Oh really? You think I didn't see it or smell it?" Claire growled as her eyes flared up. "You're smarter then this, what the hell is wrong with you!"

"I didn't do anything," He defended as she looked away. "I didn't know they were planning on doing those things..."

"Sure, whatever. But you didn't try any of it right?" Claire continued pressing as she poked him hard in the chest with her finger. He shook his head quickly before stumbling and attempting to regain his balance. Claire grabbed him by the shoulder to keep him from falling and kept him on his feet. "Fine...Come on, lets get back to the shacks."

They began making their way back home, Cloud keeping a hand on Claire's shoulder for balance and guidance.

"Didn't you leave like...awhile ago?" Cloud asked after a period of silence between the two.

"Yes I did, why?"

"Why'd you come back?"

"To look for you obviously." Claire frowned as a small grin began forming on Cloud's lips.

"How come?" He asked to which Claire's eyes narrowed.

"Why do you think?" She snapped.

"I don't know..." He said playfully.

"Because I knew you'd be out here alone and drunk. That's why. What are you getting at?" She questioned with a scowl.

"I um...I.." Cloud struggled to form words as he walked. He squinted to focus his vision as he looked at her, in his drunken state finding her more attractive then usual. "We're-we're friends right?"

"Yes Cloud, why else do you think I'm dragging you home?" Claire sighed, becoming impatient with his drunken ramblings.

"Okay, because you're always mean and it's hard to tell..." He told her, causing her to shoot him an angry look.

"What! Will you shut up?"

"See, that's what I'm talking about. Why can't you be nicer?" Cloud said as he pointed at her.

"I'll become nicer when you become smarter. How about that?" She hissed before running a hand through her hair, becoming stressed with the conversation.

"Okay." He chuckled before tripping over a curb and stumbling. "Thanks for coming to get me.." He thanked her after she had helped him regain his balance. "I kinda feel like a jerk."

"Don't worry about it," She told him, "There was a time when you bailed me out when I was in a tight spot. It's what friends do." She gave him a small smile and nod which he returned.

It was 3:30 by the time they reached the shacks and it appeared that they were the last two to make it in that night. Showing him to his room, Claire made sure Cloud got into bed and was on his way to sleep.

"Thanks again..." He trailed off as he lay sprawled out on his tiny single bed.

"Yeah...see you tomorrow." Claire whispered, not wanting to wake the other occupants of the room. She gave a little smirk as she watched him drift off into sleep. The cute little blonde looked quite hilarious sprawled out over his entire bed in his clothes. She shook her head before exiting the room and turning in for the night...for the third time.

…

The door to their room burst open and Cloud managed to open one eye to get a glimpse of the culprit.

"0600, PT. Let's go!" A commanding voice shouted.

"Fuck you it's the weekend..." Someone sleeping inside the room said back. Almost instantly the light was flicked on and Cloud covered his eyes as every person inside the room began cursing.

"Five minutes, PT strip, outside!" The voice said again.

"Who the fuck are you?" Pete asked as he rolled over, still drunk.

"Lieutenant Sterling, you're new platoon commander. Now get the fuck out of bed and outside you fucks!" The officer shouted angrily into the room.

"Oh shit..." Pete swore under his breath as the entire room slowly started getting out of bed, many of them still drunk from the night. Cloud only had two hours of sleep since getting back and was in no condition to be doing anything but sleeping.

"What the hell? Since when do we have PT on the weekends?" Cloud moaned as he sat up in bed.

"New officer...this is going to suck."

Five minutes later and all forty of the PATs were out in front of the building in their PT strip. All confused, angry, or still tipsy.

"Guess what!" The officer, lieutenant Sterling began as he stood in front of them all. "Battleschool starts in a month and I'm going to be the course officer for it. Which means starting today, I'm going to get you lazy shits back into shape. That means group PT every morning and no more free weekends." His speech was met with much moaning and complaining, the coasting of PAT platoon had come to an abrupt halt. "Now...to start off, how about a little 7km run?" He grinned as he shouted for them all to line up on the road.

"You're still drunk aren't you?" Claire asked Cloud as she lined up beside him.

"Yes-yes I am." He declared.

"When you puke, and we both know you're going to...don't get any on me." She told him to which he huffed.

"You have no say in this..."

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><p><strong>Enjoying so far? Let me know what you like or what you hate. I have less then two weeks at home before I have to go away for a solid month, I'll try to get another chapter done before then. (Going to try and finish ff13-2 as well. I've had like zero time to play)<strong>


	7. The Stigmatists

_**Chapter 7: The Stigmatists**_

"Where exactly?" Cloud asked as he repositioned himself in the uncomfortable coach seat.

Claire rubbed her eyes and cleared her throat while tilting her head to get a better look out the window. "It's a ten minute walk just outside the city," She replied as she pointed just north of the approaching city of Junon. "It's not much of a house, but I was comfortable living there."

"If we get any time off, I guess the first thing you'll be doing is going to visit." Cloud said as she nodded. Claire sat back in her seat and leaned her head against headrest, soon all this calm would end abruptly. The past month had been relatively easy and she enjoyed all of the PT they had been doing to get ready for battleschool, a routine of PT first thing in the morning, after lunch, and then after dinner. She could say with confidence that she was in the best shape of her life and knew she would have no trouble with the physical portion of battleschool...she was hoping.

As the bus pulled into Junon and began navigating the streets, Cloud took notice that many people had stopped to watch the bus. The coach was easily distinguishable as a Shinra vehicle and the looks they were getting weren't the nicest. He ignored them until they reached compound and the coach stopped outside a barrack block. There were several Guardsmen standing outside of the building and the second the bus pulled up, they raced over and up on.

"Here we go..." Pete whispered gravely.

The first man that ran onto the bus stopped at the front and paused for a moment as he looked down the rows of PATs. His sergeant stripes were easily noticeable and Cloud knew he had to be one of their instructors. The sergeant looked at his watch quickly before back at the PATs. "Five minutes, off the bus, formed up with all of your shit...let's fucking go!" He bellowed, causing everyone to snap up.

"Not this again..." Claire complained quietly with a depressed sigh as everyone began to panic and scramble off the bus. The screaming and swearing continued while the PATs hurried to unload their kit bags from underneath the coach. By the time they were completely formed up, they had missed the five minute timing by two minutes.

"Great fucking start people..." One of the three instructors growled sarcastically as he paced in front of the formation. "Each minute you are late for a timing on this course, you'll owe me 15 pushups. So get on your fucking faces..."

Cloud rolled his eyes as he got down into the pushup position. He wasn't looking forward to being treated like an idiot for the next five months. After pumping off 30 pushups, they were back on their feet waiting for the next wave of abuse. Quickly designating a course senior at random, the instructors handed him a stack of papers which he began to hand out. "These sheets are the disposition matrixs, not all of the instructors are here so look to see who your section commanders are and make note of that. Those will be your sections for the entire course. It also says what room you will be staying in, after everyone has a sheet, we'll head inside so you can all stow your shit."

"Hey," Cloud whispered to Pete with a smile, "Sergeant Gallagher is instructing on the course..." He said as he read his old section commander from basics name. "...and you, me, and Claire are with him." He informed happily as Pete looked at the matrix to confirm it.

"Hey, you're right-" Pete whispered back before one of the instructors barked at them to stop talking.

…

Lieutenant Sterling entered the lecture theater, his course awaiting his official address. The lecture theater resembled a large college classroom with rows of desks that sloped toward the ground level. The room was only half full, the 40 candidates only filling the first few rows.

"Good morning guys," He began rather lazily, "You all know me, and I know most of you...I'll make this quick. This isn't PAT platoon, you're no longer PATs, you're infanteers in training. I've done my best to get you all in shape the past month in preparation for this course but I can say without a doubt, battleschool is going to be the most physically demanding thing you'll have ever done. If you thought basic was hard...you probably shouldn't be here. I can ensure you that the course staff are going to drive you into the ground day after day."

Claire's eyes wandered around the lecture theater, looking at the pictures and paintings on the wall. She wasn't too interested in what Sterling had to say. He had been saying it all for the past month back in PAT.

"...Starting today, you have 20 weeks until you graduate. Six weeks of that is straight field time and three weeks is at the Killhouse and urban operations village...so we're definitely going to be having some fun on this course. This isn't basic, we're not going to treat you guys like you're complete idiots, there won't be ridiculous punishments if you forget to polish your boots or if you have a piece of lint on your uniform. That is not to say that if it turns out that you all are a bunch of clueless fucktards we won't punish you, it just means that we're giving you a certain amount of leeway."

"We're giving you an inch...don't take a mile." The course warrant warned as the lieutenant nodded.

"That's right...this course revolves mainly around fieldcraft. Everything you learned in basic, anything combat related, will be taught much more in-depth and you will be improving and developing these skills until you can do them in your sleep. Alright...that's all I have for you now..." Sterling finished before exiting the room.

The course warrant stepped forward as Sterling walked out of the room. "Okay, everyone out in the hall, we'll team you up with your section commanders and then go from there."

Once out in the hall, Cloud looked for and immediately spotted sergeant Gallagher who he hurried over to. Once the entire section had gathered around him he looked at his previous students and gave a small grin. "How you three doing?" He asked in a friendly tone.

"Not bad sergeant," Pete replied, "Was it just a coincidence that we're with you?"

Gallagher huffed and shook his head. "Sure wasn't, I saw your names on the course list and told the warrant right then and there that I wanted you guys."

"What about Ingram?" Pete inquired, wondering why Johnny was in a different section.

"Pfft, I could give a shit about that guy." He snorted, making Cloud smile quite smugly. "Okay guys," Gallagher began as he looked at the ten people in his section, "I'm not going to lie, this isn't going to be easy. I hope you're all physically fit because I can tell you now, this course is going to be somewhat challenging for _me, _let alone you and I'm only instructing." The bald man told them. "For those of you who don't know me, I don't believe in screaming and swearing for no reason. If you make a mistake, I'll let you know but I won't get in your face and punish you. Ask Strife, Crawford, or Farron and they'll tell you that I'll go out of my way to make sure you guys get the best training you can and I'll stick up for you if you find yourself having problems with other instructors or whatever. But you'll find out about all of that as the course progresses." Gallagher told them all as they listened intently. "You guys have your first class in about 20 minutes, I'm pretty sure it's on the LMG and GPMG. So go now, take a smoke break or use the bathroom, and be back here at the lecture theater in 10 minutes."

After the short break, the course made their way back into the theater, most anticipating the class on the new weapon systems. A couple instructors walked into the room once the course had taken their seats. With them, they each carried three machine guns, two different kinds. They placed one of each at the front of the room onto tables so they could be easily seen by everyone as well as for demonstrative purposes. The other four weapons they placed with each section, giving strict instruction for the students not to touch the weapons.

"Welcome to the first class of the course," The master corporal running the class began as he took his spot at the podium, " Obviously it is on the light machine gun and the general purpose machine gun. Throughout the rest of the day, you will learn all the aspects of the weapon system; how to dismantle and assemble them, how to clean them, as well as a little bit of how to handle them but that will be covered during later classes." Cloud looked at the machine gun that sat propped up on its bipod in front of him on his desk. As cool as he thought it looked, he knew it had to have weighed a least several times his rifle and that it was going to be a pain to carry around. "As we learn each new weapon system on this course, everyone will end up carrying them. For the first week, until you have passed the handling tests on the LMG and the GPMG, you will carrying one or the other along with your personal weapon. Once you're qualified on the weapons, we take them all back and then re-issue two LMGs per section and one GPMG. After that we will learn the sustained firing kits for the GPMG...which you will also be carrying around. Following the SF kits, we'll learn the grenade launcher for your personal weapons, the CRYC anti-armor rocket launcher, and finally the heavy mounted anti-material MG. So needless to say, you guys will be carrying a ton of equipment." The master corporal smirked as many of the students gave each other looks of concern. "Anyway, let's get started..."

…

Claire laid the LMG she was carrying down on one of the empty beds in her room before she removed her helmet and wiped sweat from her forehead. She then unslung her rifle that was dangling on her back and tossed it onto the bed as well, the large amount of weight on her shoulders slowly starting to lift as she stripped off her equipment. Webbing, fragmentation vest, small pack, and spare barrel lay in a pile surrounding her, leaving her with a compressed and sweat-soaked tunic. It was still only day one and she could feel her knees starting to buckle while they were marching back to the shacks after the full day of classes. Each day they were promised more kit to carry and at this rate, she would be having trouble in the coming days.

From 8:00 until 12:00 was designated study period every night, the only time the course was able to relax and recuperate. Claire was very thankful for it, remembering how they had only one hour to themselves every night in basic. Changing into her PT strip, she removed her pony-tail, letting her hair fall loosely around her shoulders before grabbing her notes from the day and taking a seat on her bed. With the LMG at her feet, she began to disassemble it and go over what every component was and how it worked. After a few minutes of peaceful studying, a knock came at her open door.

"Hey Claire," Pete greeted as he poked his head in, "The master corporal on duty tonight is taking each section down to the smoke pit and going over handling drills with the MG's. We're first up, so if you want to grab your LMG, we're just meeting downstairs." He told her in a bored tone.

"Awesome.." She said sarcastically as she began to reassemble. Outside at the smoke pit, she found the rest of her section lining up with their MG's, getting ready to practice handling drills. "Whose idea was this?" Claire asked in an annoyed and hushed tone to Cloud as she stopped beside him. He shrugged as he knelt down beside his GPMG which was lying on the ground.

"Lets get this done quickly.." The master corporal in charge began as he walked out of the shacks. "Everyone take up a prone position behind your weapons." He then began to issue words of command that would be common to hear on a machine gun range. The section began doing their drills on the weapons as he shouted them. They went over readying the weapon, firing, stoppage drills, loading, unloading, making safe, runaway gun, cook-off, and changing hot barrels. "Change barrel!" The instructor barked to the students. Cloud immediately went through his drills, putting the weapon on safe, removing the barrel, placing it on the spare barrel bag, putting the spare barrel onto the GPMG, and finally, notionally firing the weapon. When he pulled the trigger and fired the empty action of the weapon, the barrel popped off the weapon and flew three feet in front of him, the muzzle sticking in the moist ground. Claire looked over at him and raised an eyebrow as he frowned and tried to figure out what he did wrong. "You," The instructor said as he pointed at Cloud. "What's your name?"

"Strife."

"Why did your barrel fly off, private Strife?" He quizzed with a stern look.

"I guess I didn't put it on right?" He replied with some doubt.

"No shit. When you slide the barrel on the weapon, you listen for four clicks. That means that it has been seated properly. If not, it obviously means that it is not seated properly and if you try to fire it, the barrel will fly off." He explained, "If the weapon had actually been loaded, that barrel would have gone another ten feet." Cloud nodded in understanding. "Now go pick up your barrel." Cloud quickly did, wincing as he pulled the muzzle out of the dirt, knowing he would have to do some cleaning later that night. "You have three minutes, go get changed into combats and your fightin' an' dyin' gear." The master corporal said looking at his watch.

"Wha-what?" Cloud stuttered quietly, dreading what his punishment was going to be.

"Three minutes! Move!" The man screamed at him. Cloud didn't wait around to be yelled at anymore, grabbing his weapon he charged inside, swearing under his breath the whole time. Pete looked at Claire and tried to muffle a laugh but the instructor ended up hearing him anyway. "You want to join him?" He asked dangerously.

Pete cleared his throat and wiped the smirk off his face, "No master corporal."

"Then shut the fuck up."

Claire turned her head to avoid being seen by the man and flashed Pete a grin at his expense as he swallowed hard and nodded. The instructor stood looking at his watch the entire time they waited for Cloud to return, counting down the seconds as they ticked by.

"Two fucking minutes late." The instructor informed Cloud as he came charging out of the shacks, adorned in his fighting order. "You know what that means..."

"Shit.." Cloud swore as he laid his GPMG down beside himself before getting into the pushup position.

"Sling that..." The instructor ordered as he pointed at the machine gun. Cloud paused a moment before sighing and throwing the heavy machine gun onto his back. "Count them off.." The 30 pushups seemed like 50 while wearing all of his kit. Claire watched as he struggled with the exercise, finding it odd how they weren't all being punished for his mistake. Cloud got to his feet when he was finished, breathing a little hard. "Now you can run to the gate and back three times." The instructor growled. Cloud cursed under his breath again. The main gate was only a few hundred meters away but with all the kit he was carrying, it would take quite an effort. "With your weapon above your head..." The man added before Cloud could take off. He gritted his teeth and unslung his rifle, shaking his head in disbelief. "No not with that. With _that._" The instructor pointed to his GPMG that was lying at it his feet.

"It weighs like 40 pounds." Cloud argued hopelessly.

"I know how much it fucking weighs." The man snapped as he got right in Cloud's face.

Picking up the machine gun, he hoisted it above his head, feeling the strain of the heavy weapon. He squinted his eyes and stared hard at the instructor before taking a deep breath. "Can I start?" Cloud asked, not hiding the attitude in his voice.

"By all means..."

They all stood watching as Cloud labored back and forth from the main gate, the GPMG bouncing off his helmet as he ran. "Get that fucking pig above your head!" The instructor shouted at Cloud, referring to the MG when it dropped below his chin. Several more times the master corporal had to scream at him to get the weapon above his head, as with each few dozen meters Cloud was unable to hold up the weight. When he finally finished, the machine gun was balancing on his shoulders behind his head, his wasted arms no longer able to support the weapon at all. Pete relieved him of the weapon as Cloud rolled his aching shoulders. The master corporal looked at Cloud as he his chest heaved up and down for a few moments before he turned back to the section. "Alright, lets go through the drills once more."

After they were finished, they headed back into the shacks, Pete carrying Cloud's GPMG for him. "Send the next section down. Oh and feel free to get changed back into PT strip, private Strife." The instructor said after them.

"Asshole.." Cloud muttered to Claire who shook her head and laughed.

"That looked like it sucked." She smirked to which he huffed.

"Really? What gave it away?"

…

Claire rubbed dirt off the side of one of her rifle magazines while she sat in the staging area, listening to the gunfire and yelling going on in the next large room over. Once the dirt had smeared off, she picked up a few of the red-tipped bullets in her lap and began loading up the magazine.

"Damn, these are fragile.." Cloud complained as one of the red bullet's tip snapped off as he attempted to load it. Claire picked up another round and purposely broke the tip off, proving Cloud's point that they were very delicate.

"I'm sure they hurt though." Pete said as he put his loaded magazines into his mag pouches.

"Is there gunpowder in these?" Claire asked to no one in-particular.

"Yes," Sergeant Gallagher confirmed as he walked up to his section, having overheard her question. "The only difference between these and a real round, is the bullet has been replaced with a plastic shell that has a tiny bit of paint in it. You guys are going to love getting hit with these..." He grinned as more gunfire erupted from the other room.

"Yeah I can't wait..." Pete said sarcastically.

"As soon as the other section gets back, you'll be going in...don't let me down." Gallagher warned as he took a seat on the table full of ammunition.

The course had entered their close quarters battle phase, and had begun day two of eight days at the killhouse. The killhouse was a large open building with another building inside of it. Rooms, stairwells, windows, doors, trapdoors, attics, basements, and towers were all inside the building inside the killhouse. The ranges that people would be engaging each other from varied from 20 meters to 1 meter. The killhouse represented an environment leading up to and inside of a building occupied by an enemy force. Each section that went into the killhouse was tasked with locating and killing all enemy soldiers, rescuing any hostages, locating booby traps, and doing all of this as quickly as possible with as little friendly casualties. To give a heightened sense of realism, the forces used special rounds called less then lethal or LTL rounds that were paint bullets.

A loud bang followed by an eruption of gunfire drew Claire's attention as she looked to the other room that housed the building they would soon be clearing. She wasn't quite confident in her room clearing skills that she learned the previous day and she wasn't eager to get shot with the painful rounds. The first section was still going through and the entire course was becoming anxious to find out how it went. They were told beforehand that CQB was one of the hardest skills to learn let alone master and that it relied entirely on speed, reflexes, and communication. As an added test, the section commanders would not be present, the students would be leading each other through the corridor of pain.

Shuffling of footsteps and quiet moaning came from the large open doorway. The entire course looked to see one of their own being carried quickly by two of his section members as he held a hand over his eyes and crotch while he groaned quietly.

"What the...?" Cloud said aloud as they watched the young man in agony.

"What happened to him?" Gallagher asked with a frown as he followed after them, heading for the exit.

"He got shot in the balls, there's a good amount of blood..." One of the boys carrying his injured friend informed out of breath as they burst outside to the ambulance that was waiting on standby for just such an incident. Cloud looked at the floor and noticed a few drops of blood trailing behind them. The looks on the faces of the rest of the course were much the same; sympathetic and full of dread. Soon after, the section that had gone through the killhouse returned. Their protective masks had been raised and they sported wincing and uncomfortable looks. As they passed by their course-mates, they offered a few comments and tips.

"Goddamn that shit hurts.."

"...watch when you search them, at least one will be booby-trapped..."

"..trapdoor on the first floor."

"That wasn't very fun."

Claire noticed that many of them had wet spots of blood on their arms and legs, likely where they had been hit with the LTL rounds.

"Next section up." The urban ops master called to the course as he entered the room. "We're ready when you are."

"Please god don't let me get hit down low..." Pete prayed quietly as they lined up, ready to enter the room with the killhouse. Cloud pulled the protective mask over his face and wished he had a jock and cup, after seeing the poor boy who had been hit down low, he was feeling somewhat sick.

"Ready your weapons.." Sergeant Gallagher ordered as he walked up to them. "Everyone have a DD grenade?" The 10 of them nodded as they felt the pocket they put the flash bang in. "Remember, shoot first. Who cares if you shoot a hostage, this shit hurts." He said very seriously. "Deep breaths, I can see you guys shaking." Cloud had to admit his heart was pounding even though it was merely training. "Throw the DD's before you enter every room, don't try and save them, they won't help you once you're dead. I'll be watching, do me proud." He gave Cloud a slight nod to get on with it.

"Let's do this..." Cloud said weakly to the section as they began moving into the next room. They moved heel to heel in two teams called stacks. Cloud led the first stack while Pete led the other, Claire was the breacher in Cloud's stack at the very rear of the team. As they turned a corner and the killhouse came into view, gunfire erupted from the top floor the building, LTL rounds spraying around them.

"Third floor window!" Cloud shouted as he raised his weapon and fired back. They charged at the building, shooting the entire time until they reached it and slammed into the wall.

"I got hit.." One of the members in Cloud's stack said before swearing.

"Me too.."

"So did I."

"Shit," Cloud swore, having just lost three people before they entered the building. "Lay down, you're dead." The three of them laid down, pretending to be dead while Cloud and Pete did a quick re-shuffle of the stacks. There was 4 people in Cloud's and three in Pete's now. "Let's move." Cloud led them along the side of the building, hugging the walls as he ran until he came to a closed door. He stopped a meter away from it before calling for Claire. "Breacher up!" He whispered loudly back. Claire hurried to the door and quickly examined it for booby-traps before looking at Cloud who had a flash bang in hand. He gave her a small nod and she kicked in the door as hard as she could, as she did, Cloud tossed the flash bang in. The second the grenade hit the ground it went off, and Cloud stormed in right after it, his heart pounding and vision tunneling. The room was large and open with a long hall that extended out from it, and at the end of that hall stood a person with a weapon. Cloud immediately raised his weapon and pulled the trigger...but nothing happened. It was at that moment that he realized that he had forgotten to take his weapon off safe. He looked up to see the person at the end of the hall fire a long burst at him. The first round hit him in the calf; the second in the thigh, the third in the hip, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth in the arm. He involuntarily collapsed to the ground as his whole right side stabbed with pain. Claire was immediately behind him and she was able to fire three rounds at the enemy and drop him before he could shoot her as well. Cloud squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as he tried to suck up the pain. It stung ferociously and he felt more angry at his own stupidity then anything else.

"Dead?" Claire asked simply as she quickly stepped over him.

"It hurts..." He managed to squeak out as she chuckled. Claire took over the stack and they began to clear the rest of the bottom floor. Two more of them had succumbed to enemy fire before the bottom floor was secure, one of which fell through a trap door. Pete lead them up the stairs to the second level, each step deliberate and cautious as he moved slowly up each step. As he got to the last step, his foot tripped a wire and a small explosion went off at his feet, shooting flour directly at him. The force of the flour hitting him sent him back against the wall and onto his bottom. He sat for a moment covered in the white powder before an enemy bolted by him. If he wasn't dead enough already, the man fired a burst point blank at Pete, hitting once in the neck and once in the shoulder. The member behind Pete fired back at the man, dropping him.

"Asshole! I was already dead!" Pete coughed as he held his neck, furious that the op-for would shoot at him even though he had just been blown up. Claire and two others were all that remained now as they moved hesitantly onto the second floor.

Cloud breathed deep and kicked the wall in anger as he lay on the floor in pain. He could hear gunfire coming from upstairs and he hoped Claire was fairing better then him. He looked down the hall at the man who shot him and he raised his middle finger at him to which the man returned the gesture. The firing on the upper level ceased and Cloud heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Pete appeared, covered from head to toe in flour except for him neck which was bloody. Claire followed close behind and she held her left hand in her armpit.

"We're done." She told him as she walked by him. "We all died..."

"Super." Cloud said as he got to his feet and followed her out the door. They retrieved the three dead members outside the building before heading back to the staging area. Claire threw her weapon and mask down on the table before holding up her hand and removing the bloody glove. She gritted her teeth as she pulled it off her hand, revealing a bloody gash in her knuckle where a LTL round hit. Cloud looked down at himself to find his uniform bloodied from the inside out, his body stinging painfully. Pete held his neck as blood steamed from it while he regaled horror stories from the killhouse to the sections who hadn't gone in yet.

"That was a very realistic fall you took after getting shot." Claire smirked as she walked up to Cloud.

"That's because it was real. I got hit six times...you?"

"Four times I think." She said as she checked herself over. "Twice in the webbing, once in the knuckle," She said while she held up her bloody hand, "and once in the facemask."

"That's not too bad." Cloud shrugged.

"Not too bad?" Claire asked in disbelief as she held up her knuckle once again. "I'm missing a part of my hand.."

"Strife!" Sergeant Gallagher barked as he entered the room, having just came from the viewing area. "Gather our guys together...we're going to have a little talk about whatever the hell you people just attempted." He growled.

...

Cloud sat in the smoke pit of the killhouse with the rest of his section, wearing nothing but his combat pants and his gray undershirt. He had small band-aids over his various wounds, which had stopped bleeding. The LTL marks were about the size of a dime and the bullets had to be pulled out of the skin. He looked over at Claire whose hand had a bandage wrapped around the knuckles.

"How many times to we have to go back in?" Pete asked as he stared up at the sky and breathed deep.

"Three more times today. Twelve in the next four days." Claire told him as she took a seat between him and Cloud. "Should be fun.."

"Well we can't do any worse then we already did.." Cloud pointed out, "We know the layout, we know how many rooms there are, where one of the trap doors is..." He listed them off. As much as she hated the killhouse and getting shot, Claire would rather be doing that then what they had been doing for the past three weeks. So far they had been learning many new weapon systems but it was when they went to the small training area just outside of the city, did she begin to hate the course. Each day they were made to do countless section attacks, advance to contacts, and whatever else the instructors felt like making them sweat over, many times with their new heavy weaponry. At the end of the day she was always completely drained physically, but so was everyone else.

"I knew it was going to hurt...but not this much." Cloud complained as he pulled back one of the band-aids on his arm and grimaced at the small but deep hole. "It's probably going to scar."

"It will..." Gallagher said to them all as he exhaled cigarette smoke. "You'll have plenty more too before this is all over." He said as he pulled up the sleeves on his shirt, revealing several tiny circular scars that dotted his arms. "Every infanteer has at least a couple...I guess you can say its sort of the mark of the infantryman...a small gift from battleschool."

Cloud blinked and raised his eyebrows in surprise as he stared at his own arm. "In that case, I guess it's not too bad..."

"Yeah," Pete said sarcastically as he reached across Claire and punched Cloud in the arm. "Just wait til you get shot again and you'll be bitching all over again." He grinned as he sat back down.

Claire looked at Cloud before shrugging and nodding in agreement. "He's right..."

"No I'm serious..." Cloud defended as he rubbed his arm where Pete punched him, "They're like little badges of honor.."

"Oh get over yourself." Claire mocked as she rolled her eyes. Cloud smirked and went back to looking at his tiny wounds. They could hear the faint sounds of gunfire coming from inside the building and they knew that they would be going in soon, having to face the onslaught of the painful less then lethal rounds. Claire cocked her head sideways and looked out the front gate of the compound several hundred meters away. The main road that ran at the front of the compound was busy with vehicles driving by and with people walking hurriedly down the walkways. "I hope we get a weekend off sometime.." She sighed as she looked at the road that she used to walk down as a young girl. "My family is a twenty minute walk from here..."

"Give them a call, tell them to come meet you one night once we're done for the day." Pete suggested.

"My house doesn't have a phone. And even so, I couldn't just sneak off, we're confined to barracks. I haven't got in any trouble yet this course and I plan on keeping it that way." She explained.

"They have to give us at least one day off...twenty weeks without a day off is pretty extreme." Cloud pointed out, though he wasn't quite sure. They hadn't gotten a single day off during basic and that was only five weeks shorter. "..and you know, at least you have a small glimmer of hope that you'll be able to go home. The rest of us...we have nothing to really look forward to."

"You can look forward to me being happier if we get a day off, how about that?" She joked with a grin.

"Oh, oh yeah, how could I forget about that?" Cloud replied sarcastically with a shake of his head. She gave him a small wink before resting her head against the wall and closing her eyes. The door to the smoke pit opened at that moment and the section that had just gone through the killhouse emerged, bloodied and heaving.

"How'd it go?" Pete asked Johnny who was the first one he recognized.

"Sucked..." He sniffed, his voice cracking.

Pete frowned as he watched Johnny pace around while he held the top of his hand. "You okay?"

"Yes." He responded quickly and quietly.

Pete squinted and managed to notice Johnny's watery eyes. "Are-are you crying, Ingram?" He laughed.

"No!" Johnny snapped, even though it was quite obvious he was.

"Hey, Ingram's crying." Pete said to Cloud and Claire as he pointed at Johnny.

"Shut up! I got shot in the hand you asshole!" Johnny yelled at him, sounding quite emotional.

"So did I..." Claire said with a frown as she held up her bandaged hand.

"Except she didn't start crying." Cloud snickered as they all poked fun at their course-mate.

"_Who's_ crying?" Sergeant Gallagher asked with a scowl as he walked up to the group.

"Ingram is." Pete told him, unable to control his laughter.

"Ingram!" Gallagher shouted at the boy, "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why the hell are you crying?"

"I got shot in the hand sergeant..."

"Everybody's been shot! What the fuck!" The bald sergeant grew angry as he watched Johnny sniffle.

"Somehow I'm not surprised that out of everyone here...Johnny was the only one who broke down and started crying." Claire smirked as Pete's laughing grew louder. Cloud just smiled and listened to Gallagher yell at the boy from his hometown, finding immense amusement in him crying like a little girl.

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><p><strong>Read and Review please. I leave tomorrow for a month so the next update will be in about a month and a half. Still lots to come, so keep reading and let me know what you think!<strong>


	8. What's Set In Stone

**I have returned from my adventures. Sorry about the wait.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter 8: What's Set In Stone...<em>**

Cloud shed his sweat drenched equipment for the countless time that day, placed it neatly and uniform on the grass then sat down on it. He picked up the small, thin cardboard box lunch he had already placed on the ground and opened it up. For lunch they were given box lunches everyday instead of getting to eat at the messhall. The majority of the course were sitting down to eat as well, most not too excited about their mediocre lunch of a couple juice boxes, a ham sandwich, and an apple.

"Remind me again why we can't eat at the mess..." Pete scowled as he glanced over across the compound at the messhall.

"Mess food is just as appetizing." Claire shrugged as she tucked a stray bootlace back into her blousing.

"I just want an excuse to get out of the sun." Pete said as he squinted and held up his hand to block out the sun.

"Listen up!" The course WO called to his troops as he stood in front of them all. "It has finally come for you all to start deciding where you want to get posted to once...if you pass battleschool." He told them all as he pulled out a piece of paper. "You'll have until tomorrow to make your decision, does everyone already know where they want to get posted or have you not given it a thought yet?" The course all looked at each other and mumbled quietly as the WO stared at them. "Well if you don't know where you can be posted, these are the places: Midgar, Kalm, Junon, Costa Del Sol- good luck getting posted there, the Gold Saucer, Nibelhiem, and there are several other small postings throughout the world at various Mako Reactors but you'll have no control over going there. Everybody gets two posting preferences. Keep in my that these are _preferences_, not guarantees."

"Costa Del Sol..." Pete raised an eyebrow and grinned at Cloud. "Hmm..."

"You'll have until tomorrow to think about it..." The old WO finished as he turned to one of the other instructors.

"What do you say Cloud?" Pete motioned to his friend as he picked up a juice box. "You think life in Costa Del Sol would be pretty nice?"

"Yeah-yeah I do." He nodded.

"That's probably where I'm going to pick to get posted. You should too." Pete suggested.

"Hmph." Claire huffed, "He's obviously going to pick Nibelhiem, Pete. And aren't you from Kalm? Why aren't you going to pick there?" She asked as she wrinkled her brow.

"Doesn't mean I want to go back. There's a reason I left..." Pete said with a slight frown.

"I don't know where I want to go yet..." Cloud said quietly after a few moments.

"What do you mean? Your hometown is one of the choices." Pete said, thinking the choice was quite obvious. "But keep Costa Del Sol in mind. That sure would be sweet."

"What about you Claire?" Cloud asked turning to her.

"Right here." She said quickly. "I'm going to put Junon down for both choices, just to make sure I get it."

"Costa Del Sol, Claire...beach life..." Pete tempted with a grin. She paid no attention to him and went back to eating her lunch. Cloud stared off into nothing as he sat in deep thought, pondering where he wanted to go.

Claire looked over and saw him staring into space and she snapped her fingers in his face, "Hey, we only got five minutes. You might want to start eating." He snapped out of his daze and turned to his box lunch but continued to be lost deep in thought. "You have all of today to make a choice you know. No rush."

"Yeah I know."

…

"Course senior!" Sergeant Gallagher barked to the course which was grouped outside of their main training building, standing around smoking in the summer heat.

The appointed course senior for the day rushed over to the stern man, sensing trouble. "Yes sergeant!" He stopped in front of the instructor and came to attention.

"Sort that gaggle-fuck out and get them formed up." Gallagher growled as he pointed at the course.

"Yes sergeant." Almost instantly the young man turned around and screamed for everyone to stomp out their cigarettes and to form up. It only took a few moments before the 30 candidates were in formation, awaiting their instructor to take them back to the barracks for the night.

"What time do you got course senior?" Gallagher asked as he looked at his own watch.

"1730, sergeant."

"Good." Gallagher paced in front of the formation, slowly swinging his drill cane like a golf club. "Private Farron!" He called out as he lined up a rock with the tip of his cane.

"Sergeant?" She answered.

"What week is it?"

"Week 10."

"Week 10..." He said quietly to himself as he swung his cane and hit the rock like a golf ball. "That's pretty long to go without a day off don't you think?"

"Yes sergeant it is." Claire answered, her heart skipping a beat at the phrase 'day off'.

"Well, the course officer has decided to give you guys 24 hours off to yourselves." He informed with a smirk to much joyous mumblings. "After we get back to the shacks, you all will have 24 hours to do whatever the hell you want until...1730 tomorrow. You all just put in your posting preferences today, and you'll find out in two days time where exactly you're going to be posted." Gallagher went on as he lined up another rock. "And then next week...we head to the urban ops village and the field for a couple months. So we want to make sure you guys are still somewhat sane before that happens which is why you're getting this time off." The rock made a loud crack on the wooden drill cane as he swung it. "So...I'm sure you're all eager to take off for the night but just remember. Stay out of shit, if anything happens, I'll see to it that whoever is involved gets kicked off course."

With that, Gallagher marched them back to shacks to dismiss the anxious students. Along the way, Cloud noticed several men leaving one of the buildings inside the compound, their uniforms foreign looking.

"Who are they?" Cloud whispered to Pete as they marched.

"Who? Those guys?" Pete asked as he motioned towards the same men.

"Yeah, never seen those kinds of uniforms before..." He drifted off as he squinted and observed the men. There were four of them, two of which had long spiky black hair. "You think they could be in SOLDIER?"

"Quiet." Gallagher growled a warning as he looked over. Cloud shut his mouth but kept watching the four men as they walked out of the building and into a panel van. He caught the eye of the what appeared to be the youngest of the four before they marched past.

Once at the shacks, everyone hurried inside to ditch their heavy kit and weapons before getting showered up and changed. Cloud was in little rush compared to the majority of the course, he had no intentions of going to the bar to drink his face off. He learned his lesson on PAT, and didn't want to make the same mistake again.

"Come on Cloud, what are you doing?" Pete asked him as Cloud returned from the showers. "We're all heading out in like..five minutes."

"I'm staying in." Cloud put it simply to which Pete frowned and looked at the other two occupants of their room.

"and...why is that?"

"I want to catch up on some sleep." He lied as he changed into his PT gear.

"Let's go Pete," Lawson, one of their roommates said as headed for the door, "If Strife doesn't want to come then fuck him."

Pete scowled and flipped off the other boy as he left before turning back to Cloud, "Come on man, we'll just have a few."

"No thanks Pete." Cloud told him again.

Pete shrugged and stood up, sighing in defeat, "Alright, but if you change your mind, I'm sure you'll be able to find us." He said before leaving. Cloud exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his hair, glad that he wouldn't have to make excuses not to go out anymore. There was still much commotion coming from out in the hall as excited people ran about getting ready to go out. Cloud decided he would wait for everyone to leave before he would go to the mess. He wasn't usually this anti-social, he just wanted to have a day of peace and quiet where he could just relax by himself.

Claire walked briskly down the hall, her backpack slung over her shoulder as she past her colleagues. She casually glanced into Cloud and Pete's room as she walked by, seeing Cloud sitting on his bed staring down at his hands. She stopped and walked in with a frown on her face. "Hey?" She said looking around the room, "Not going out?"

"Don't feel like it," He said as he shook his head, "You?"

"Going home." She said with a smile. "With any luck I'll get Junon as a posting too."

"Yeah..."

"What did you end up picking, by the way?" She asked as she stepped into the room and sat on the bed opposite Cloud.

"Uh, I picked Midgar." He told her to which she gave a frown.

"Midgar? She asked like she hadn't heard right. "How come not Nibelhiem?"

"I don't know.." He shrugged.

"Oh come on, you can tell me." She smirked, seeing him become visibly uncomfortable with the question.

"I don't really want to go home yet." He finally said.

"What does that mean?" She frowned.

"I promised I wouldn't come home until I...was in SOLDIER." He admitted, becoming very embarrassed. Claire slowly grinned, Cloud didn't have to look at her to know that she was. "I'll have the best chance to make it there if I'm posted to Midgar, when I talked to my career manager before I joined he said that Midgar excepts the most applicants for SOLDIER." He explained.

"Why do you want to be in SOLDIER so badly?" Claire asked, her grin fading. "Who did you make this promise to? Your mother? I'm sure she would be glad to see you no matter what you were doing."

"It wasn't to her..." Cloud said quietly as he looked back down at his hands.

Claire blinked in surprise as she realized who he had likely made the promise to. "Oh..." Cloud had told her before that he was looking at joining SOLDIER, but she never knew before just how much he had set his heart on it, or how much he cared for the girl he made the promise to. "You poor...poor boy." Claire giggled as she shook her head. Cloud narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply but he couldn't help but smirk as she laughed at him. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh...it's just so sad." She said as she muffled her laughs and stood up. "I'm taking off, are you just going to stay here all night?"

"Yeah...I'll probably go to the gym soon." He told her as he crossed his arms.

"The gym?" She scowled. Lurching forward she shoved him hard in the shoulder, sending him onto his back on his bed. "See? You'll make it into SOLDIER yet."

"Thanks.." Cloud said as he sat up. Claire smiled before turning to leave and giving a little wave as she left him alone in the room.

…

Those seven months seemed so long, but as she walked down the narrow beaten path that she had walked hundreds of times before, Claire felt as though she was once again returning home from a day spent in town. There was a string of small farm houses that surrounded Junon, and although Claire's family were no longer farmers, they still lived outside the city limits. It was a short walk from the entrance of Junon to her house, just far enough away not to hear the sounds of traffic or city life. Claire smiled happily as she neared her small house, a night at home in her own bed seemed almost too good to be true.

Walking up the few stairs to the old wooden porch, Claire went to open the front door but hesitated before she turned the knob. For some reason she thought maybe she should knock. She didn't want to startle her mother by walking in completely unannounced. On the other hand, she wasn't a stranger, she lived here for 15 years, and had only been gone seven months. This was her house too, she wouldn't be knocking. Claire huffed and shook her head at her own hesitation before opening the door and stepping inside. The door creaked horribly just like it always had, alerting anyone no matter where they were in the house. Claire expected to be greeted by a warmly lit house and an orange glow from the living room lamps but instead the inside was surprisingly dark and cool. Footsteps sounded, coming from the kitchen and Claire smiled in anticipation of seeing either her mother or sister. Her mother's concerned head poked around the corner, her eyes wide, expecting intruders. Even though it was dark in the house, she easily made out her daughter standing at the front door.

"Claire..?" She said quietly in disbelief.

Claire smiled as she walked forward into the house and hugged her mother. "Hi mom.."

"What-what are you doing home?" Her mother asked through smiles as she held her back.

"I'm working in Junon right now and I have the night off." She explained as she released her mom and flicked on the nearest light.

"Well look at you..." Her mother said as she looked her up and down, "Still growing I see..."

"You look good too mom." Claire said looking her over. Her mother was tall and slender just like her, but she had short blonde hair. Aside from the difference in hair color, she looked like she could be Claire's older sister, as the signs of aging had not yet taken their toll.

"Is that Claire!" Claire's 10 year old sister shouted from upstairs. Their mother laughed softly and called her down. She came running down the stairs shouting Claire's name the entire time.

"Come give me a hug." Claire chuckled as her sister ran over to her. "Miss me?" She asked as she hugged the much shorter girl.

"Yes!" She answered while looking up at her. "Are you back for good?"

"Just for a day." Claire told her sadly, the disappointment showing instantly on her sister's face. "But don't worry, we can do whatever you want to do tomorrow."

"But I have school tomorrow."

"No you don't," Claire grinned, "Not when I'm home you don't." She told her sister whose eyes lit up. Claire flashed a wary eye at her mother, but found no objection. "Have you guys eaten yet?" She asked turning to her mother.

"Yes...but there's enough left over for you." Her mother said, "We'll sit down with you. Serah, go get a seat ready for your sister."

"Don't worry, I've gotten ready for dinner by myself before mom. You don't need to make Serah do it for me." Claire said as she winked at the younger girl.

…

The locker room was completely empty except for Cloud as he sat on one of the benches changing. For all the PT that the course did, for all the workouts they endured everyday, they never actually had been inside the gym before, all of their PT was conducted with the use of zero equipment. Cloud was planning on exploring it a bit and using the cardio room until he discovered that there was a pool and a sauna. He spent a couple hours swimming lazily around the nearly deserted pool before he went and sat in the sauna for the better part of an hour. The relaxing time alone was easily more enjoyable then any night out at the bar.

Cloud gazed at himself in the mirror that hung on the wall across from the bench he was sitting on. His appearance since first leaving home had changed quite drastically. He had grown at least four inches; all the baby fat on his face had been sweated off, his voice had grown deeper, and his muscles were becoming more defined and toned as the weeks dragged on. A smug grin formed on his face as he admired himself, slowly but surely he was growing up.

The door to the locker room opened and in walked a man with a gym bag slung over his shoulder, prompting Cloud to stop looking at himself in the mirror and to finish changing. The man sat on the bench a few feet away facing towards Cloud as he removed his boots. Cloud glanced at him and frowned as he realized he was one of the four men he had seen earlier that day while marching. The man had spiky black hair and seemed very fit for how young he was. The young man looked up at him as Cloud finished putting his PT gear on and stood up. He noticed Cloud's distinct recruit PT strip and slowly began to smirk.

"Battleschool?" He asked, his voice friendly.

"Oh-uh yeah." Cloud replied slowly, not expecting to be spoken to.

"How much longer do you guys got?"

"10 weeks. We just put in our posting today." Cloud told him.

"Oh yeah? Where did you put?" The man asked as he began to unbutton his tunic.

"Midgar."

"Nice. That's where I'm from...I'm not infantry anymore though." He said with a grin.

Cloud paused for a moment as he looked at the man, "Are-are you in SOLDIER?" He asked a little cautiously.

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know...I never seen those uniforms before." Cloud said honestly.

"Yeah you're right, I'm in SOLDIER." The man confirmed, "I'm Zack, by the way." He introduced as he extended his hand.

Cloud raised his eyebrows in surprise at the gesture before shaking Zack's hand. "I'm Cloud. What are you doing here in Junon, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Boring stuff, nothing exciting. No op or anything like that." He huffed.

"Oh...is it hard to get into SOLDIER?" Cloud asked, thinking quickly of the questions he should ask.

"So you wanna be in SOLDIER huh?" Zack easily guessed, causing Cloud to become a little embarrassed. "It depends. I did selection three years ago, it wasn't _too_ hard but it definitely wasn't easy. The course is always changing so it might have gotten easier or harder, I don't know." Zack explained, "They do a crazy two days of medical tests to see if your body can even physically handle selection...most guys don't even pass that."

Cloud listened carefully, trying to get as much information as he could. "Is it worth it?"

"You're damn right it is." Zack blurted, "It's worth all the pain, discomfort, and hardwork you'll endure during selection."

Cloud nodded as he listened, this was just making him more anxious to get into SOLDIER. "As soon as I can...I'm going to try out."

"Good to hear," Zack smiled as he finished getting changed into his gym clothes, "We always need people, even if you don't become an operator or assaulter. There's positions for support staff too." He told Cloud who wasn't too keen on becoming anything but an operator. "If you do make it though, don't expect to spend much time at home. We're always away..."

"Do you ever get to go home?" Cloud inquired.

"I haven't been able to yet, too busy with training and operations." Zack told him somewhat regrettably. That wasn't good to hear, not being able to go home for at least three years. "But...It's worth it." He smiled and nodded his head convincingly.

"I can only imagine." Cloud said quietly.

Zack stood up and placed his gym bag in one of the lockers before turning back to face Cloud, " It was good meeting you Cloud, good luck with the rest of Battleschool and hopefully I'll see you once you get to Midgar." He shook Cloud's hand once more before heading for the gym doors. Cloud sat for a few moments longer, still excited that he just met a person in SOLDIER and was able to have a short conversation with him.

…

The two sisters walked side by side on the beaten path, heading for home after a day spent at the beach. The sun was beating relentlessly down and Claire had gotten a little sunburnt during the day, but it was worth it to spend a day with her sister . Her and Serah spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon at the main beach on the outskirts of Junon; swimming, playing, and catching up on everything they missed in each others lives during the 7 months.

"I never get to go to the beach during school days," Serah talked as they walked, "It's always so crowded when I go."

"It sure was nice today...almost no one there but us." Claire smiled as she ran a hand through her still wet hair. "I won't get to go swimming for at least another 10 weeks when I'm finished my course."

"You'll be living at home after that right?" Serah asked hopeful.

"I hope so, but its not for certain just yet."

"Why?"

"It's complicated Serah." Claire told her as she ruffled her hair.

"I don't see why you had to leave in the first place..." The younger girl pouted.

"Well..we don't have much money...it's hard for mom," Claire tried to explain, "This way it's easier for the both of you."

"But now mom makes me do your chores too!" Serah argued to which Claire couldn't help but giggle.

"Don't worry, my chores got harder too..." She winked. Serah smiled and Claire put her arm around her sisters shoulder, giving her a small hug as they walked along. She was doing her best to enjoy the few short hours she had left before having to return to the shacks, where it would be at least 10 weeks before she could see her mother and sister again.

Once the two made it back to the house, Serah headed to her room to get changed while Claire went to talk to her mother.

"Mom?" Claire said as she found her in the kitchen.

"You guys have fun?" Her mother asked as she washed her hands in the sink.

"Yeah, did some swimming and just talked a lot." Claire told her quickly as she picked up her backpack and took a seat. "Hey...uh mom?" Claire asked as she unzipped her backpack.

"Yes?"

"I know we talked about this before I left, but it's the main reason I left in the first place...and I want you to have it..." She said as she pulled out an envelope of money from her bag.

Taking one look at the small envelope, her mother frowned and shook her head,"No, I already told you, I'm not taking money from my daughter." She said stubbornly with her arms crossed. "It's not mine to take. You earned it, you keep it."

"Mom," Claire reasoned while putting the envelope on the table. "I don't need it. I'm going away for 10 weeks where I won't even be able to spend any money. I make more then enough and I know you struggle to get by..." Claire's mother felt devastated at hearing her daughter say that. It was true, she lived paycheck to paycheck working as a cleaner in a Shinra office building in Junon. "It's okay, this is why I joined the Guard anyway. It's everything I made since I've been in." She smiled to let her mother know it was alright. She looked so ashamed as she stared at her daughters money, knowing she desperately needed it but not wanting to accept it. "I already gave Serah a small amount for herself." Claire waited for a response but her mother just stood there, looking more and more fragile. "I won't think less of you for taking it, it's always been my plan to give you the money." Claire picked up the envelope and held it out for her to take as they heard Serah's footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Okay..." Her mother said quietly as she took the money.

"It's alright mom..." Claire told her as she got up and hugged her. The older woman weakly hugged her back, still feeling ashamed despite Claire's reassurances.

"Is everything okay?" Serah asked concerned as she stood at the entrance to the kitchen, watching her mother and sister.

"She's my mom too, I'm aloud to give her a hug you know." Claire smirked as she released her mother.

"You have a fun day with Claire?" Their mother asked Serah.

"Yes, are you sure you can't come back anytime soon Claire?" Serah asked for the seventh time that day, still hopeful however.

"Trust me, if I could, I would." She said as she zipped her bag back up, "I still have to finish my training before I'll be aloud to go out on a regular basis."

"When will you find out where you're getting posted?" Her mother asked.

"Tomorrow I think.." She replied, "I won't be able to tell you guys though. I don't have a regular routine or schedule that we can plan around to meet up at."

"Okay..." Her mother frowned, "Serah, do you want to get washed up? We're having an early dinner before Claire has to go back."

The little girl went to the sink to wash her hands while Claire helped her mother set the table before starting to serve the meal. The three of them sat down and began eating, Claire remembered back to several jokes people on her course talked about. Many of them joked that if they ever went home, how high strung they would around their families. Having gotten so used to eating every meal as fast as they possibly could, getting up at ridiculously early times, automatically preparing their room for inspection the moment they woke up, and several other force of habits, that they thought they might involuntarily act the same way at home. She huffed at the thought and found that it took little effort to shut off panic mode. She had slept in until 9am that day, ate three meals at a normal speed and didn't once think of folding hospital corners on her bed.

"Claire?" Serah's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"How come all the Shinra guys are always so mean," She asked innocently, "They always make me pay just to get into town and are never polite."

Claire chuckled quietly before rolling her eyes, "That's because those Guardsmen are exactly that. Guards. Those guys in blue you see standing around the city are usually just Guards and standing there is their full time job."

"Is that what you do?" Her sister asked.

"Ha! Yeah right." Claire huffed sarcastically, "Once I'm posted here, if any of those guys give you ANY sort of trouble...you come tell me. In fact," She cleared her throat, "Which one is mean to you? That guard at the main gate?" Serah nodded and Claire narrowed her eyes as she made a mental note.

"Uh oh..." Their mother said with a slight grin, "Be nice now..." Serah laughed as she watched Claire smile sweetly.

"Don't worry..." She assured calmly. "I've scared plenty of Guardsmen with just words."

"Do you work with any other girls?" Serah asked as she ate.

"Hmph...a few I guess." Claire huffed, "They make females look pretty weak though."

"Why is that?" Her mother asked with a small frown.

"I don't know...you kind of have to work with these people for an extended period of time to realize how lazy and close to useless they really are." She explained, "I'm not saying I'm anything special, but there's just a lot of people that shouldn't be doing this job."

"Do they not kick people out who can't do the job?" Her mother asked as Claire huffed.

"Not enough. I was told going into basic training that the people who couldn't handle it would be dealt with and off course fairly quickly," Claire went on, "But of course, lots of people graduated who shouldn't have. I remember having a talk with my section commander at the end of basic and he said that battleschool would sort out any person who shouldn't have passed basic. But, there's still people being dragged through. I'm sure I'll be told that these people will be sorted out once they get to battalion...but they won't." She continued ranting.

"Well...I'm sure you don't have any problems." Her mother comforted with a smile.

"No..not really." She agreed, although she was more then aware of her troublesome attitude.

With dinner finished, Claire helped her mother with the dishes before she was to leave to go back. The 24 hours off had gone by just as fast as she thought they were going to, but she was able to spend every moment with either Serah or her mother. She was glad her mother excepted her money, they would be able to live a little more comfortably now, at least until she returned from battleschool. It was good to know that they were doing fine without her there, even though they both had more work to do, they were managing.

After the small amount of kitchen work was done, Claire packed her bag and said her goodbyes as the three of them gathered on the front porch. "Two and a half months, then I'll be able to let you guys know if I've been posted to the unit here in Junon." She told them as she gave Serah a hug.

"Okay, we'll be waiting." Her mother said, "I know a lot of people don't like the job that you do but...both Serah and I are proud of you. We know you'll do the right thing when the time comes."

"Thanks mom," Claire said with a little embarrassed smile, "I'm going to miss you both."

"I'm going to miss you too!" Serah said loudly as she hugged her again. "Be safe."

"I will...see you guys soon." She told them as she turned and walked down the porch steps. She gave one last wave to them before walking in the direction of the coastal city.

Serah felt her mothers hand on shoulder as they stood side by side watching Claire leave home once again. "That's a good sister you've got there. I hope you know everything she's doing for us."

Serah looked up at her mother and blinked before turning back to watching Claire walk away. "I know mom...I know."

….

"Anxious?" The course officer's question was met with silence as he laid the pile of folders down on the desk at the front of the room. He removed his maroon field cap and placed it on the desk before calling up the course senior. "Most of you should be happy with where you got. Only a few of you will be going somewhere other then your first preference." The officer said to the entire course, seated quietly in the lecture theater. "Course senior, you want to help me hand these out...the names are on the top." As they went around from person to person, presenting them with their posting message, Claire fidgeted nervously while she waited. Any motivation she had to exceed on the course would be crushed if she didn't receive Junon as a posting.

"Thanks." Cloud thanked as he received his folder from the course officer. He opened it up and quickly began reading. After a few moments he smiled and looked at Claire.

"Well?" She asked.

"B company, 1st Battalion of the MidGuard...Midgar!" He said excitedly just before Claire received her message. She read it over and frowned as Cloud leaned over to look at it. "So..?"

"Headquarters company, Junon Coastal Battalion...?" She said somewhat awkwardly.

"Hey congratulations." Cloud smiled.

"Why the hell did they put me in Headquarters?" She fumed with an angry look.

"At least you got Junon.." Cloud offered.

"I guess, but I'm an infanteer. I don't want to be apart of a support unit." She complained aloud.

"Damn it..." They both turned to Pete as he shook his head and swore under his breath. "B company, 1st Battalion of the MidGuard..." He said slowly as he read his posting message.

"So much for Costal Del Sol." Cloud grinned, "At least you'll be with me."

"Don't lose those folders...you'll need them for when you get to your new unit." The course officer warned as he finished passing out the last of the posting messages. "We tried to get everyone their first choice but obviously...not everyone can get where they want. Just remember, there's still 10 weeks left of course and it's the hardest portion. If you don't pass it, those postings will be torn up and you'll have to try again next course." He explained.

"There you go Pete, all you have to do is fail the course and try for Costal Del Sol next time." Cloud joked as Pete shook his head with a not so impressed look.

"Why was I put in headquarters!" Claire complained again, furious that soon she would be doing administrative work.

"Because you're a girl?" Pete suggested, "Even though you're probably a better infanteer then the majority of the people here."

"Should have picked Midgar. Then you'd be in one of the rifle companies like Pete and me." Cloud lectured. "I think B company is the battalion's Vanguard too."

"Whatever, I'll get to live at home with my sister and mom. That's more then either of you can say." She hissed.

"Don't get mad...we're happy for you." Cloud said trying to calm her, "Aside from the headquarters part..."

"Thanks...I guess." Claire huffed as she read over the message once more.

"For those of you going to Midgar, that where I'm going and you'll most likely be working under me." The junior course officer announced from the front of the room.

"Meh." Pete shrugged, not too excited or disappointed. The officer was alright but was still a junior with little experience.

"I bet your family will be happy to hear that you've been posted to Junon." Cloud said to Claire as she closed the folder.

"Yeah they will, I pretty much already promised that I was going to be posted here anyway." She told him, "I can't wait. I didn't realize how much I missed home until I spent yesterday there."

"Have a good time visiting?"

"Yep, seems like forever since I've been home." She replied, choosing to leave out the details of her visit. "I know why you chose Midgar as a posting but I could never willingly pass on an opportunity to see home like you just did."

Cloud frowned and immediately had to remind himself why he chose not to return home. The way Claire had just blatantly judged him for picking a different posting other then home instantly infuriated him. Of course he wanted to see his mother again, of course he wanted to see Tifa again, and he would in the near future, he just hadn't achieved what he had set out to become yet. "Well I want to be more then a clerk in a headquarters company before I return home." Cloud snapped, causing Claire to blink in surprise.

"Oh?" She responded with a fake innocent tone. "You want to be in SOLDIER before you go home? Good luck with that."

"Hey whoa..be nice." Pete cut in, hearing their little argument.

"I'll have a better chance in a rifle company then in some headquarters unit." Cloud hissed.

"Don't even start with me Strife," Claire laughed, "You're half the Guardsmen I am. I at least know my limits. If I'll never make it into SOLDIER then you haven't got a hope in hell..." She huffed as Cloud turned red.

"No, the reason you would never make is because you'd be kicked off the first day because of your shitty attitude." Cloud shot back with a scowl.

"Shitty attitude?" She laughed again, "You mean my common sense? For questioning stupid orders? Just stop before you embarrass yourself further."

"What the hell you guys?" Pete cut in again as Cloud clenched his teeth and fists. "You're arguing over the stupidest things. Just shut up, you're getting kinda loud."

Claire crossed her arms and shook her head. Cloud didn't have to rub in the fact that she was going to Junon's headquarters unit. She wouldn't have shot down his plans to make it to SOLDIER even though she knew he probably would never make it. Cloud sat looking extremely pissed off as the course officer began going on about the day's schedule. Claire was his friend and he never expected her to just turn on him like that. He didn't want to, but he had to admit his feelings were a little hurt but if she was going to be that way then that was fine with him. In 10 weeks he would probably never see her again.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry this took so long, I hope I haven't lost too many readers. I was away for work for the last month and half. Anywhoo, drop a review, let me know what you thought.<strong>


	9. Shatters Like Glass

**Sorry about the wait people, but work has been just a big asshole lately.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 9: ...Shatters Like Glass<strong>_

"I never thought it would do that..." Claire marveled as she laid next to Pete on the slight slope.

"I know, that's so cool." Pete agreed as they both stared up at the night sky with their night vision goggles. The stars shone more brilliant and bright then they had ever seen before thanks to the NVGs. For a device that they had learned to despise for being close to useless, not to mention adding unnecessary weight to their helmets, they had finally found a use for them: passing the time while out on night sentry. "Good to know that night vision is at least useful for star gazers." Pete chuckled as he sat up.

"No doubt." Claire nodded. She sat up as well and pivoted the NVG's off her face before blinking a few times, her eyes not adjusted to the darkness. "What time is it?"

Pete looked at his watch, "3:45." He told her as she stood up.

"Come on, let's go wake up our replacements." She said, Pete standing up to follow her. They walked along the ridge in silence towards their bivouac site where the rest of the course was sleeping. It was week 14, and they were on the last phase of urban operations. After two weeks of practicing and fine tuning their fighting skills in an urban environment, they were about to conduct one last assault on a small training village. They had never been to the village yet, which was nothing but a few dozen plywood huts and houses, and were unsure of all the tricks and traps that awaited them there. Two days of rehearsals, going over every step they would take upon reaching the village, and whose job was what, had left them feeling fairly confident with themselves but the battleschool's enemy force had a reputation for being brutally resourceful and creative when it came to defensive measures. At first light, the course's attack would commence where they would be evaluated as a whole.

Claire and Pete wandered through the darkness until they reached the bivouac which was held in a bowl at the bottom of the hill. There were five eight-man tents set up, all within a few meters of each other, the instructors sleeping off somewhere else. Claire found her section's tent and made her way to the door, making sure not to trip over any of the draw strings. Her and Pete entered the tent, a small lantern hung from the center pole and flickered weakly, indicating it was about to die. There were six sleeping forms inside the tent, all huddled together for warmth.

"Sentry..." Pete whispered to one of the sleeping individuals as he tapped on the person's sleeping bag.

Claire did the same to another but instead of politely tapping on their sleeping bag, she kicked their feet as she walked by, "Get up...sentry." She mumbled before sitting on her own sleeping space. She began to unlace her boots as Cloud poked his head out of the top of his sleeping bag and squinted in the low light. He breathed deep and groaned quietly while he leaned on his elbow, not wanting to leave his warm sleeping bag.

"What time is it?" He asked with a yawn.

"Almost four...so get up." Claire told him as she stripped down to her combats.

Cloud sighed and slowly began to get out of his sleeping bag and dressed, his sentry partner, Whitey, doing the same. "You know, you're supposed to wait at the sentry point until we come and relieve you..." Cloud pointed out with a small smirk.

"Well..." Claire began as she laid down, "You'd better go tell on us..."

"Was just a joke..." Cloud mumbled to himself in annoyance. The two replacements spent the next 10 minutes slowly getting ready for their sentry shift, taking as long as they could, for they were in no rush to go stand on a hill in the dark for a couple hours.

"Hey..." Whitey whispered as he cocked his head sideways, "You hear that?"

Cloud stopped moving and frowned as he listened carefully, "Sounds like a lot of people moving around out there..." The two of them quickly exited the tent to investigate. The moment they stepped out of the tent, several dark figures that were standing amongst the tents began shooting their weapons into the air. Cloud squinted from the bright flashes of gunfire as the men laid back on the triggers of their weapons and let loose their entire magazines in one long burst.

"Pull pole!" One of the men shouted, Cloud instantly recognizing the voice as one of the instructors.

"Shit," Cloud swore as he and Whitey rushed back inside their tent. They found their section mates just beginning to poke their heads out of their sleeping bags in confusion and anger, "Pull pole! Come on, get up!"

"Get the fuck out of those tents!" One of the instructors screamed from outside. The gunfire had already woken the sleeping recruits up who were only beginning to get out of their sleeping bags. Almost every one of them was grumbling and cursing about having to get up; pack all of their stuff up, and take down the tent in the pitch black.

"...I get back from my sentry shift...get kitted down...into my sleeping bag..." Claire fumed through clenched teeth as she shoved her sleeping bag into the valise.

"Turn those fucking lights off!" An instructor bellowed. After the mad scramble to pack up their kit, the course quickly tore down the tents and charged off into darkness, following their livid instructors to a new position.

Twenty minutes of dead quiet walking later, they were halted and ordered to drop their rucks and tents.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why we made this little trip tonight..." One of the sergeants began as he talked to the dozens of faces obscured by the darkness that surrounded them. "We weren't planning on being assholes and pulling pole on you, but master corporal Rotcliff went to check on the sentries to make sure they were awake...only to find that there were_ none even out there_!" He boomed at the end of the sentence. "He even waited for 15 minutes and still no sentries showed up!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you people!" Another sergeant fumed, "This is basic shit, you all know better then this. Who's got the sentry list for the night? We're going to find out what went wrong."

Claire sighed with a groan as the course senior pulled out a small notepad and handed the list to the course warrant. A red light flashed as the warrant aimed it at the paper and read over the names. Claire knew a shitstorm was about to hit her and Pete but she was just so tired that she didn't care anymore.

"Farron! Crawford! Where the fuck are you?" The warrant barked out.

"Warrant." Claire and Pete answered in unison.

"Where the hell were you? It says you guys were on from two until four." The warrant questioned angrily.

"We left at 3:45 to go wake our replacements." Pete explained quickly.

"And did you return to the sentry point until they relieved you?"

"No warrant..." Pete answered cautiously.

"Why the fuck not!" One of the sergeants yelled as he walked up to Pete. Pete had nothing to say that would save him. He looked at Claire for help who stood there with a bored look on her face. "Well! Farron? What about you? Why didn't you return to the sentry point?" Claire shrugged and remained silent, not wanting to open her mouth because she knew it would lead somewhere worse. "Any fucking day Farron!" He screamed, a few inches away from her face.

She scowled and turned her head sideways to get her face away from his. "I don't know.." She finally blurted out.

The instructor merely shook his head in disgust and walked back to his peers. "We'll deal with this later. Right now, you all have shell scrapes to dig. Forget about putting those tents up, you're all going to be on sentry for the rest of the night." He informed to a collective dropping of hearts. "Get to it! Make sure you all have eyes on the village."

Claire was feeling quite similar to everytime during basic when the entire course had to pay for her mistakes. This time it wasn't for talking back however, she actually made a punishment-worthy mistake. As her and Pete took turns digging their shallow shell scrape, they could hear the grumblings and resentment directed at them from the people that surrounded them. To be honest though, she believed that part of the fault lay with Cloud and Whitey, who purposely took their time getting ready. Playing the blame game wasn't going to change anything or anyone's mind so she would just suck it up and continue digging.

"It's a good thing we're not using real bullets, otherwise I think we might get shot in the back during the attack in a few hours." Pete joked halfheartedly.

"Hmph," Claire huffed with a smirk, "Yeah and I can think of another two people who would probably be the victim of a little friendly fire." She said in a low tone as she flashed her eyes over to Cloud's foxhole.

"Yeah no shit eh?" Pete agreed while standing up, "Hey!" He shouted at Cloud who looked over, "Thanks for doing us that solid, buddy-fucker."

Cloud shoved his shovel into the dirt and climbed out of his hole before walking over to his two friends. "What?"

"Forget it man." Pete shook his head.

"I told you did I not?" Cloud scowled as he stared hard at Claire, "I told you, you're supposed to go back to the sentry point and wait."

Claire stopped shoveling, stood up straight and turned to face Cloud, "I know the rules," She snapped, "We were out there for an hour and 45 minutes, who the hell cares about 15 minutes? It's a stupid rule. Besides, if you didn't take your time getting ready, none of this would have happened."

"Don't try to pin this on me, this is just another example of you getting everyone in shit because you don't feel like following a rule that EVERYONE else follows." He retorted furiously.

"Go back to your hole, Strife." Claire told him with a dangerously calm tone as her eyes darted to his, daring him to continue arguing with her.

Cloud huffed and shook his head, "You're ridiculous." He spat before turning and leaving. Storming back to his shell scrape several meters away, he jumped back into it and continued digging. "Do some goddamn work once in awhile, Whitey!" He exploded when he noticed Whitey was still resting next to their hole.

"Shut the fuck up over there!" An instructor's voice sounded from some distance away.

…

Claire rested her head on the sights of her weapon as she laid in the long, tall grass. She kept her gaze on sergeant Gallagher who was laying down just to her front but felt her eyelids becoming heavy. The village was just over the berm in front of them about 50 meters away. They had spent the last couple hours moving carefully and quietly into position for attack. Very soon, the hardest part of the operation would begin. The insertion; observation, and approach had gone off without a hitch but the next two phases were the hardest: The attack and clearing. To add a level of realism to the training, the two combating forces wore sensors on their uniforms, and had lasers attached to their weapons. The sensors on their weapons told the laser when the weapon was being fired and sent an invisible laser beam in the direction the barrel was pointing. If the laser hit someone, the sensors they were wearing would detect it and beep continuously until the person laid down on the ground completely still.

"One minute." Gallagher said quietly over his shoulder to his section as he looked at his watch. Claire raised her head slightly to see if she could get a look at the village but the berm was still blocking her view. Her section and 1 section were attacking from the south and were to push west into the village while 3 and 4 section attacked from the east and pushed north. There were 32 buildings to clear, not to mention the open ground to cover before they even reached the village. She doubted they would clear half of the place before every one of them was killed. They had been reminded countless times to watch for booby-traps of every sort, more then a few recruits had actually died at that village during past courses. "Let's move." Gallagher grunted as he hopped to his feet and began moving towards the berm. The fourteen recruits behind him followed without as much as a word. The simultaneous attack on the town was underway, so far the only sound was the shaky breathing of the recruits as they made their way closer.

Claire eyed every window and open door of every building as they neared the town, looking for the silhouette of a person or weapon. The crack of gunfire sounded from the other side of the town, letting them know that the other assault force had been spotted. "Pick it up!" Gallagher barked as they charged towards the first building in an extended line. Claire pumped her legs faster, adrenaline surging through her despite it only being training.

"There's one!" Pete, who was a few people down from Claire, shouted. He raised his weapon and pointed at a two story building further into the town, a man dressed in black standing on the roof. Pete began shooting on the run, several of his section members doing the same. The op-for quickly looked in their direction before turning and ducking out of their line of sight.

"Stop firing!" Gallagher yelled, furious that they would give their position away. They had the element of surprise, but now they had started firing before they even entered the town. "Goddamnit!" The fifth-teen of them finally made it to the first building, slamming into the side of it. "You dumb fucks!" The furious sergeant boomed at Pete and the others who had opened fire. "Strife! Get that door open!" He yelled at Cloud who was closest to the door. Cloud immediately ran up to the door and tried opening it, but found it locked.

"Locked!" He informed.

"Kick it open!"

Cloud attempted to kick the heavy metal door open but it wouldn't budge. "Sergeant!" Pete shouted to Gallagher, "Look." He pointed to the next floor which had an open top and a railing around the edge. "We could go up there!"

"Good idea, someone boost him up." Gallagher ordered, not wanting to waste anymore time trying to find a way into the building. Whitey made a brace with his hands and knee as Pete slung his weapon and stepped onto him. He boosted Pete up the side of the building while the rest of them watched the corners for any op-for.

Pete peered over the edge to next floor, finding it empty. "It's clear!" He shouted down before grabbing a hold of the railing. As he went to pull himself up, the railing wobbled before coming loose and sliding off the edge towards Pete. "Oh shit!" Pete swore as the long, heavy metal railing came crashing down ontop of him. The five meter long railing crashed down ontop of the fifth-teen people, cracking many of them on the head. Nine of them were instantly flattened underneath the heavy railing and lay groaning in pain underneath it.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Gallagher growled in pain as he lifted the railing off everyone and tossed it away by himself. Cloud had taken one step towards one of his comrades who was lying in pain on ground in order to help, when the door he was previously watching literally exploded off its hinges and knocked him over. He crashed to the ground with the door ontop of him and coughed in the ensuing smoke and dust. Claire, who was crouched on the ground holding her shoulder from where the railing hit her, looked at where the door used to be and saw two op-for bolt from the entrance. With one hand still on her weapon, she let loose a long burst at them, almost instantly hearing the distinct beeping that sounds when a person is hit. Claire smirked when she saw them reluctantly stop firing and lay on the ground, pretending to be dead. They may have had tricks such as unscrewing the bolts that hold a railing to a floor but their reflexes when it came to shooting weren't the fastest.

"Everyone good!" Gallagher shouted to his roughed up teams. They all gathered themselves up and gave him the a-ok. Claire kicked the door off of Cloud and couldn't help but laugh at how disorientated he had become because of the explosion. His eyes were unfocused, his ears were ringing like church bells, and his face was covered with dust.

"Come on." Claire grunted as she pulled him up.

"That was a dirty trick..." Gallagher growled as he kicked one of the op-for's boots. "Let's clear this fucking building!" He shouted in frustration before leading the first five people through the door. The rest of them waited outside, watching into the town for any op-for. They could hear intense gunfire coming from across the town where the other assault force was.

"You okay?" Claire turned to Pete, noticing him leaning against the wall for support and struggling to breathe.

"The railing...crushed...my chest." He coughed weakly, holding his badly bruised ribs. Several other people were also groaning in pain and holding where they had been struck by the railing when it fell, Claire included.

"Clear!" Gallagher screamed from inside the building. "Friendlies coming out!" He yelled before leading the team he took in out. "Next building, lets fucking move!" He pointed to the next building they were to clear, which was about 50 meters away. "Strife! You're first...go!" He yelled. "We'll go in through that window on the left side of the building...head for there."

"Okay...!" Cloud responded shakily and nervously. He paused for a moment before bolting past the safety of the building and out into the open ground. Running as fast as he could, and with his eyes scanning every roof; doorway, window, and corner, that he forgot to watch where he was going and ended up tripping in a small depression in the ground. He crashed headfirst into the gravel and slid a few feet before coming to a stop, keeping completely still for a few moments while he lay in utter embarrassment.

"Strife!" Gallagher yelled after him in anger and disbelief. "What are you doing!" As Cloud lifted his head to pull himself up, he heard the familiar beeping coming from the sensors on his body.

"Shit..." He swore in bitter disappointment that he was the first one to die. He dropped his head back onto the ground and took his hands off his weapon. "I'm hit!" He yelled back to his comrades who were looking at him like he had some sort of crippling mental handicap. Cloud could hear Gallagher ranting and raving about something but he no longer cared, the game was over for him now, he was just going to lay there and rest. He did however, attempt to locate his assailant but to no avail. Boots rushed by him towards the building he was aiming for, many of his comrades either laughing at him as they ran by or making snide remarks. They were all shooting on the run, likely at whoever had shot him. Cloud continued watching their small attack on the next building, from his vantage point he could see most of the roof and was able to catch a glimpse of an op-for sneaking around on top. Gallagher and his teams couldn't see the man because they were pressed up against the building, getting ready to enter it through one of the windows. Cloud almost felt like yelling a warning to them but decided it was too much effort to raise his head and open his mouth, not to mention he was supposed to be dead.

Just before Gallagher led his team into the building, Cloud saw the op-for man on the roof toss what looked like a smoke grenade over the edge down ontop of the attacking force. It began smoking instantly and obscured Cloud's entire view of what was happening.

"Fuck! Someone toss that smoke grenade out of here!" Gallagher ordered as he wrinkled his nose at the unpleasant smelling white smoke. Claire quickly hurried over to the smoke grenade and reached down to pick it up. Squinting through the smoke that was spewing from it, she noticed that there was a white cylinder gun-taped to the grenade...which was beginning to whistle. Her eyes went wide and she froze a moment as she stared at the mini-bomb.

"Arty-arty sim!" She cried before leaping backwards. The whistling grew louder for a second longer before the artillery sim detonated, blasting apart the smoke grenade and sending both searing hot liquid chemicals and razor sharp steel fragments from the body of the smoke grenade in all directions. Before Claire hit the ground, she felt an excruciating pain in her right leg. Landing hard on the ground, she quickly turned to look at her leg to find smoke coming from her pant leg, near the calf. There was an intense burning pain which wasn't ceasing and she couldn't help from crying out. Someone else was screaming dreadfully loud, and there was much swearing going on around her. She quickly batted at her leg to try and stop whatever was burning but it only seemed to intensify the pain. It felt as though a pot of boiling water had been dumped on her leg, only the pain was growing. Claire looked for help but found herself completely shrouded in white smoke from the grenade.

Cloud blinked in surprise when he heard the explosion and saw his comrades disappear in a large cloud of white smoke. Almost immediately he heard some screaming and yelling coming from the cloud. He stood up and started began moving towards the scene, his walk turning into a run at the concern for his friends.

"...hold him down..." Cloud heard Gallagher's voice as he neared the dense smoke. Rushing into it, he tripped over someone laying on the ground and looked to see Claire sprawled out. She was lying face down, one hand clutching her leg, and one hand squeezing a fist of gravel.

"Claire?" He said her name as he crawled over to her. She looked up, her eyes were wide and her face was shaking uncontrollably. "You alright?" He could tell by the look on her face that she was in an enormous amount of pain.

"...NO!" She quickly blurted out before going back to biting her lip to the point of bleeding.

"Whoever has the fucking radio, get on it and tell training control we have a NO DUFF situation." Gallagher barked out over someone's loud screaming. Cloud crawled up next to Claire and finally noticed the smoke that was pouring from her pant leg. He looked around to see if anyone was coming to help but found that they were still engulfed in smoke.

"Hold on.." He said as he jumped over to her right side and tore open her pant leg where the smoke was pouring from, finding her calf badly burnt. He pulled out his canteen and quickly dumped the contents onto her leg, causing her to cry out in pain. Whatever was causing it to smoke, stopped. The burning liquids on her leg washed away but the water did little to stop the pain. "What the hell happened?" Cloud asked her, as he watched her writhe in pain. "Hey! Farron's hurt too!" Cloud shouted into the smoke as it eventually began to dissipate. He was able to make out several people as they crowded around a screaming individual lying on the ground. "Is that Whitey?"

"Field Amb is on it's way sergeant!" Someone shouted.

"Who else was hit?" Gallagher asked as the smoke cleared out.

"Farron!" Claire shouted herself through clenched teeth. Cloud stood up and took a step back as several people rushed over in aid of Claire. He looked around at the chaos, everybody yelling and the injured people groaning loudly in pain. Most of the corrosive liquid that spewed from the smoke grenade when it was exploded by the artillery sim had sprayed on Claire's leg but some had also hit Whitey in the face. Two other people had taken chunks of the smoke canister in various parts of their body. Pete was busy pointing and yelling at the op-for on the roof, while Gallagher was trying to control the hectic situation.

…

"If you can have that incident report written up for tomorrow, that would great. There will be an investigation into what happened, which you will be apart of." The course officer, Lieutenant Sterling told Claire as she laid in her bed at the shacks. She nodded in understanding and grimaced as she sat up.

"When will I be going back?"

"Back where?"

"To the field, with everyone else." Claire said with a frown.

"Um, you won't be." The officer frowned in return, "You will be medically RTU'd back to PAT platoon in Midgar."

"What!" Claire blurted out, stunned that she was being kicked off course. "I can walk, run, do whatever. It's just a few burns." She argued.

"The MO said that there's a serious risk of infection if you stay in the field. To be honest I don't want you out there if you're just going to get hurt again." Sterling told her as he crossed his arms.

"Sir, that's ridiculous." Claire huffed, "All I'm required to do is change the bandage once a day. In a week I won't even have to apply bandages anymore."

"All you're going to do is cause yourself more pain by going back out. There will be another course soon enough." Sterling said with a shake of his head.

"I'm _fine_," Claire told him as she stood up to prove her point, "It hurt like hell when it happened, but all it feels like is a sunburn now." She lied while clenching her leg muscles to combat the stinging. "I'll be totally fine in a week..."

"Let me see it..."

Okay..." Claire bent down and carefully peeled the medical tape off of the bandage on her leg. She tried not to show any signs of pain as she removed the thick damp bandage, revealing several small blot-like yellowish burns on the outside of her calf. The burns had blistered but weren't looking as repulsive as she remembered.

The officer grimaced as he looked at her nasty wound, "Must've burned like hell."

"Yes sir." Claire replied before covering the wound back up for it was starting to sting once again.

"..and you're sure that you'll be able to carry on with the rest of the course?" The officer asked, very seriously.

"Yes, yes sir." Claire said with confidence.

"You won't receive any special treatment out there because you're injured...you'll have to do everything that everyone else does...and if you get more hurt, it's going to be my ass." Sterling warned.

"I'll suck it up sir. It's just five more weeks."

Sterling frowned and bit his lip while deep in thought. Claire knew she would be putting herself through almost intolerable pain if she was to go back, but she didn't want to redo the course and risk losing her posting to Junon. "I'll talk it over with the course warrant. For now, you'll stay here on base until we reach our decision."

…

Cloud watched as a small hornet buzzed around Pete's head before diving into the ration he was eating. Cloud almost choked on his food when he saw the look Pete gave at having the bug fly into his food. "Aww what the hell...?" Pete grimaced as he looked into the small packet of beans and wieners he was eating. "Great..." He said sarcastically before closing the packet and tossing it back into the ration bag.

"Beans and wieners suck anyway." Cloud offered while he ate his own ration.

"I guess...hey, do you have any eyedrops left?" Pete asked him hopefully. Cloud rummaged through his pockets until he found a thumb size bottle of eyedrops. Holding it up to eye level, he saw that there was only a few drops left.

"Here, have the rest." He said before tossing it to him. Pete thanked him and pulled out his canteen, quickly squirting the remainder of the bottle into it and taking a gulp of the tainted water.

"It's been like four days..." Pete said feeling sorry for himself, hinting at his own constipation caused by the rations which were designed to do so.

"Finish up eating...kit up and get ready to move." The course warrant barked out to his troops. "We have to link up with the armoured squadron by 1400."

Cloud sighed and shoved his half eaten rations back into his ruck. He looked around the course which were grouped in their sections eating lunch next to a dirt road. The summer heat was sweltering and the bugs were relentless, they hadn't had a shower or good night's sleep in weeks but they had all grown accustomed to the field life.

As the course got loaded up with all of their equipment and into formation on the road, a grey range truck sped down the road towards them, pulling off to the side as it reached them. They all turned to see Claire get out of the passenger side, grab her rucksack out of the box and join them in formation. Pete and Cloud exchanged looks of confusion as she walked towards them, having thought that she was gone for good.

"Have a good vacation, Farron?" Gallagher grinned as she walked by him.

"Yeah, went to Costal Del Sol. Spent some time on the beach..." She replied casually to which he huffed.

"Not even limping eh?" Pete commented as she walked up next to him and Cloud. "You good to go?"

"That's why I'm here."

"You see Whitey at the hospital?" Cloud asked.

"There was a bandage covering his face. I don't know how badly he's burnt though." She said, remembering back.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you were pretty messed up..." Cloud said with a touch of concern.

"It's been three days...I'm good now." She assured him.

"Alright, let move out!" The course warrant interrupted them with shouting as he started walking down the road. "Ack Ack formation."

"Farron, take the sustained firing kit," Gallagher instructed as he lifted the heavy bag off of one of his troop's rucksack. "We're down one man and if you're out here, that means you can carry your share..." He said as he placed the bag ontop of her ruck. She winced as the added weight put more pressure on her already throbbing leg. "Let's get going before the warrant starts yelling..."

Two hours and 11 kilometers later, the 28 candidates and their instructors arrived at their rally point with the armoured squadron. There were eight APCs and four tanks that they would be training with for convoy operations.

Dropping their heavy rucks and kit, Cloud's section hydrated in the iron ring while they waited for orders.

"Did anyone see how far back Farron was?" Gallagher asked his troops, wondering how far back she had fallen out. His section shrugged, having been concentrating on their own discomfort the entire march. "Someone go back to the road and check to see if she's on her way."

Cloud looked around to see if anyone was moving to go check but found that they were all too exhausted to bother. "Guess I'll go..." He sighed in annoyance with his comrades. Grabbing his weapon, he hurried back to the road from the armoured hide in the trees. Looking down the road, he saw her almost instantly, only about a hundred meters back. She was making her way towards him, a limp to her walk now. He hurried to her, knowing her leg must have been causing her trouble for he had never known her to drop out of any march before.

"You okay Claire?" He called as he neared her.

"Yep." She forced out in-between labored breaths.

"Here, give me the tripod." He said as he reached her. She gave it up without a word, grateful for the slight ease in discomfort.

"Give me a second." She bent over so that her heavy pack was resting completely on her back instead of her aching shoulders.

"How's your leg?" He asked, knowing it must have killed.

"Hurts...a lot." She squeaked before coughing.

"Give me your ruck too."

"No," She said standing up straight. "I've almost made it."

Cloud noticed her eyes were completely bloodshot and she had a sort of twisted look on her face. "Are-are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, let's go-" She took one step with her injured leg and it buckled the moment she put her weight on it. The only thing that stopped her from falling onto her front was her jamming her rifle muzzle into the gravel and holding herself up with it.

"Whoa-shit, easy." Cloud said with concern as he grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. The brief pause in which she had rested, caused the intense pain to stop but she was unprepared for it once she started walking again. "Just, umm...sit down. I'll go get someone." Cloud told her as he went to help her sit down.

"What?" She looked at him like he was crazy, "No Cloud, just give me a second. I'll be fine."

"You're obviously not fine." He scowled.

"Just give me a second. I'll be able to make it there by myself." She argued.

"I can see you're hurt, I don't see what you're trying to prove. Just wait here I'll-"

"If you go tell them I'm out here unable to walk, what do you think is going to happen to me?" Claire snapped as she stared hard at him.

"Uhh, well..."

"I'll be kicked off course. They'll send me back to PAT, back to Midgar, where I'll have to wait for another course. Which means I won't get to go home." She explained quickly. "Now please, just let me do this..." Cloud took his arm off of her and took a step back, not wanting to argue anymore.

"Well let's go then," He said impatiently, "We were about to get orders before I left." Claire swallowed hard and tried to take another step, this time finding it a little more bearable.

"Okay, I'm good.." She said as she began walking normally again.

The two of them joined the rest of the course in the armoured ring, just before they had an o-group on what would be happening next.

"What's going on Farron?" Gallagher frowned when he saw her.

"Sorry sergeant, leg's still a little sore. I'm good though." She explained as she kitted down.

"You sure?"

"Yeah..." She nodded while drinking from her canteen.

Two hours later, after a less than extensive class on convoy ops, the course and their armoured counter-parts mounted up in their vehicles and began their move. Cloud's section was in the lead APC, keeping them out of all the dust that the vehicles created on the dirt road. The APC was a small six-wheeled armoured troop carrying vehicle that held 8 people. It was almost box like and had no armaments on it other then the smoke grenade launchers on the side. It's only means of protection were from the crew hatches on the top of vehicle that were located at the back where two riflemen could stand out with their top halves exposed. Claire was one of the lucky ones who was able to get one of the sentry hatches and enjoy the breeze. She leaned on her good leg as she stood in the open hatch, grateful that for once, she wasn't walking everywhere. The march to hook up with the squadron had been even more brutal then she had feared. The burns on her leg were still open wounds so during the march, they began to sting terribly from sweat. It had been the most grueling ordeal of her life. It would have been hard enough without the injury.

As they sped along, Claire could hear the people in the crew compartment at her feet complaining about the insufferable heat inside the vehicle. She did feel sorry for them, but at the same time she was in more discomfort then they were.

"...you don't look so good.." Pete's voice sounded from below. He sat on one of the two benches, Cloud sitting across from him.

"I don't do well in vehicles." Cloud mumbled, feeling queasy. Driving in an armoured vehicle makes regular people motion sick, so Cloud was having quite a rough time.

"You should switch with one of the air sentries," Pete suggested, raising his voice over the sound of the loud engine. Getting up, Pete made his way to the back of the vehicle and nudged the sentry opposite of Claire in the leg. The man poked his head down into the dark compartment as Pete squinted through the bright hatch. "Hey, can you switch with Strife? He's feeling really sick down here..." The man shrugged and stepped down, taking Cloud's seat as Cloud went and stepped up into the hatch. He breathed deep as the wind whipped at him, enjoying the somewhat cooler air. He rested his weapon on the top of the vehicle and leaned against it before looking over at Claire.

She looked at him and pulled down the brown handkerchief that was covering her nose and mouth, "Whats up?"

"Not feeling the greatest.." He said as he gave a halfhearted laugh at himself. "What about you? How's the leg."

"Not too bad," She said, trying to talk over the sound of the wind. "I should be okay as long as we don't have to march for another 11 kilometers."

"I don't think I could do another 11 neither," Cloud agreed, "The one good thing to come from getting badly burned like you did, was that at least you got to go in and get a few showers."

"I don't think it was really worth it." Claire frowned with an odd smirk.

"I can't believe that they kept you on course. I saw those burns...they didn't look too good." Cloud told her as the convoy entered a large wooded area.

"I had to convince the officer to keep me on, I just want this all to be over so I can go home." She explained.

"..and start your new job at the headquarters in Junon." Cloud grinned.

Claire narrowed her eyes at him, "Yeah...not too excited about that."

"You could always ask for a new posting a couple years down the road. Who knows, maybe we'll end up working together again." He shrugged.

"Well, let's hope it never comes to that..." She said sarcastically to which Cloud smirked, "We've been working together in the same section for quite awhile...since basic. It'll be different not having you or even Pete around to bug me. I guess you could say..I'll miss you...somewhat." She admitted, fairly awkwardly. Cloud nodded and agreed with her. Even though she was a pain sometimes, he was going to miss her. She had more drive and determination then anyone he knew but at the same time balanced it out with dose of ignorance.

…

'..performed above her grade.' Claire read the final line on her end course report, a smug smile forming on her lips as she signed the page and handed it back to sergeant Gallagher. Course done, no more room inspections, 4am mornings, endless ruck marches, or assholes yelling in her face. The entire course, which had started with 32 students and ended with 25, had gathered one last time in the lecture theater to sign their course reports, effectively ending their battleschool experience. They had all toughed it out through the field portion and made it back to the comfort of the shacks. After hours of post-ex work: cleaning weapons; pioneer stores, tents, and equipment, everything was done and the only thing that was left for them to do was their graduation parade which was the following day. The course was in moderately good spirits, having just completed the hardest thing they've ever had to do in their lives, and now they were anxious to get to their first posting.

The door to the lecture theater opened and the course warrant poked his head inside. "Instructors..." He called to them as they were all finishing up collecting the signed course reports. The eight instructors exited the room leaving the course to talk amongst themselves. Almost an entire hour passed before the instructors returned, many of them sporting troubled looks. The course warrant and officer stood at the front of the room while the rest of the instructors stood off to the side.

"Do you want to sir...?" The course warrant asked in a low tone as the officer stood thinking.

"Yeah...yeah I'll do it." He said as he crossed his arms. "Okay guys, listen up.." He began as he raised his voice so everyone could hear him, "For most of you, you're about to experience the unpredictability of this job. I'll start off with what happened first before I explain how it affects you." He paused a moment to think before starting, "I don't know how many of you know, but we, as in the Shinra Guard, have several small outposts in Wutai's southern provinces. These are mainly to keep an eye on the several independent factions and tribes that are separate from the main body of Wutai's government. Obviously we were in a war with Wutai in which we won, so it's necessary to keep tabs on the people that have proved troublesome for Shinra and their interests..." As he talked, Cloud thought for a moment that they were all going to get posted to Wutai. "Anyway, one of our outposts reported last week that there was a revolt at one of the villages in southern Wutai. Apparently they're refusing to pay a tax that was imposed on them and during this little 'protest' several guardsmen were killed. These outposts are only about 20 men in size so it's not like they have the strength to enforce much...and this week two more outposts have reported uprisings in their areas of operation. The heads at Shinra have decided it's in their best interest to quell this before they have another war on their hands. So by the week's end, two companies from the MidGuard, a rifle and a support company will be deploying to Wutai to deal with what's going on there. That's a total of about 350 troops, which is leaving the MidGuard severely undermanned." Claire felt a spark of fear inside of her, sensing what the officer was about to say. "...and because Shinra is looking at making this a posting for these 350 troops, that means they won't be coming back to fill the ranks in Midgar. Which means that for anyone who wasn't originally posted to Midgar...you've now been posted to B Company, 1st Battalion of the MidGuard." Claire's world shattered before he even finished his sentence. "I know it sucks, especially because we're one day away from getting posted to our units but this is totally out of our hands." Claire began to panic, she did _not_ want to get posted to Midgar. But what could she do now?

"Sir!" Claire shot her hand up, interrupting him in mid-sentence.

"Um, yes?"

"Is it still possible to get kicked off course?" She asked quickly and completely seriously. Almost everyone turned to look at her, not sure if they had heard right. The lieutenant blinked and gave a deep frown.

"Uh..."

"Farron sit down and shut the fuck up," The course warrant growled as he stepped in, "You're not intentionally getting yourself kicked off course to get out of a posting." He told her quite straightforward. Claire swallowed hard and sat back down, not sure how to handle the situation. She had just put herself through the hardest part of battleschool with a horribly painful injury in the belief that she would be able to go home once it was all over. But now that it turned out to be nothing more than a big tease, she felt like she had never wasted more time and effort on anything in her whole life.

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><p><strong>Oh snap. Drop me a review. Ps, if the part with the exploding smoke grenade and burning liquid chemical stuff seems outrageous...its not. I've seen it happen to someone in the same way.<strong>


	10. Battalion

**Short and Sweet.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 10: Battalion<strong>_

Each person in the circle stared at the money that lay in the center of them on the smooth concrete floor. Their eyes darted from one another, seeing if anyone was about to make a move. It was almost maddening just to watch, the two dozen guardsmen all poised in attack position as they slowly made their way closer to the money, one millimeter at a time. Some of them carried blunt objects, others just had their hands balled into fists in anticipation for the savage beating that was to befall one of them. Every now and then, one of them would jolt forward a step before retreating back to their original position, faking out their comrades.

Claire watched from some distance away with her arms crossed, not understanding what was happening as the tension grew within the circle. Had she blinked, she would have missed the insane act of both stupidity and bravery that suddenly followed. One of the men in the large circle, dived into the center and ontop of the few hundred Gil, covering the money with his body before the entire circle pounced on him. No quarter was given in that oval of undiscriminated hate, each person seeking to get as many blows in as possible before the mass dispersed. Claire frowned deeply as she watched one of her comrades being beaten on every inch of his body by at least two dozen people. The man lay curled up in a ball on the floor, unable to do anything to defend himself other then wait for the beating to end, as it was also written in the rules. Claire had never seen anything as juvenile or animalistic in her life. All she was able to see was a blur of legs and arms as they struck a trembling form that lay in agony on the ground. After nearly 30 seconds of straight beatings, the group began to break up and walk away from their broken and bruised victim, out-of-breath chuckling and joking following them as they dissipated.

"How much did you get!" Someone shouted excitedly. Claire watched as the man who had just been severely beaten, sat up very slowly and held above his head, a wad of bills.

"..80 Gil!" He forced out to much jubilant cheering from his assaulters. The man sat on the ground holding himself, waiting for the pain to ease.

Claire shook her head and continued frowning as the group dispersed amongst The Choke, still unsure of what she had just witnessed. "What um, what the hell was that?" She asked turning to one of the corporals who was sitting on a chair next to her reading.

He looked up and put his bookmark in the the novel before clearing his throat, "That's the circle game...you get a bunch of guys together, they start throwing money in the middle of them, and someone has to try and grab it. Everyone beats up the person who goes for the money though...it's a pretty savage game." He explained to a deepening frown on Claire's face.

"Why on earth would they do that?" She asked in disbelief.

"Passes the time." He shrugged, "Welcome to weapons platoon."

Claire huffed and turned to one of the people that just came from Junon with her, "Did you see that?" She asked, hoping she wasn't the only one to bear witness to the immense amount of stupidity. It having only been her second day in Midgar since arriving from Junon, any expectation of how life at the battalion was, was quickly smashed. When they arrived by bus the other day, the entire course was split up among C company, and she found herself in the weapons Platoon with Pete and three others. Several people had been put in the Headquarters and Claire had counted her blessings that she hadn't been sent there. Being put in Headquarters _and_ posted to Midgar would just be adding insult to injury. She was still very depressed about having her posting to Junon snatched from right out underneath her a few days before it was about to happen. There was nothing she could do about it, over half of the 1st battalion of the MidGuard was gone on deployment to Wutai, so they were severely undermanned and needed every person they could get, even if it was infanteers fresh off of battleschool.

"What happened to that guy?" Pete asked as he joined the small group of new guys and pointed at the man who was still sitting on the ground.

"You missed probably the most insanely idiotic thing in the world..." Claire said turning to him, "Let's just say that he got beat up solely for money."

"Cool." Pete nodded sarcastically, not too interested. "Are you guys all cleared in yet?"

"We finished this morning," Claire told him, "The company sergeant major gave us a little speech when we finished."

"Yeah, I just came from talking to him...I have to say, it wasn't a very encouraging speech." Pete admitted to Claire's nods of agreement. The sergeant major painted a less-than motivational picture for them when he had his talk with them that morning. He was their last stop for in-clearance to the battalion, having spent the past day and a half being shown around the massive building and where everything was. The large rectangular building housed the entire battalion and all of their support units. There was the main hall where the main entrances were-a done up showcase of all the battalion's exploits, then there were the 5 company areas. A, B, C, K, and Headquarters companies had their own sectioned off areas of the building that housed all of their equipment and vehicles. Each area had a parade square for formations and drill, and then there were the large garages that were appropriately nicknamed 'The Choke' because of all of the vehicle fumes. The Choke was where the companies lower ranks congregated, mostly to keep out of sight of the higher ups.

During the speech with the sergeant major, he pulled Claire and two other new people into his office, seeming more friendly then she would have ever imagined.

"_I know you've probably been told this everywhere you've gone since you've gotten here but...welcome to the battalion." The crusty old sergeant major began as he sat behind his desk, "Our sister company, K company, is on their way to Wutai to fight the good fight, so until they return, higher has decided to swell our ranks until we have enough guardsmen and leadership to stand up a new company. That won't be for at least a year so you should be in my company for a little while. You three are in our weapons platoon am I correct?" _

"_Yes sergeant major.." Claire answered when the other two did not._

_The old guardsmen huffed with slight grin, "Those guys in weapons are a bit of a wild bunch. Hazing...it's a bit of a brutal tradition in that platoon. Just a little heads up...those guys are going to treat you like shit. And you..." The CSM squinted as he looked at Claire's nametag._

"_Private Farron, sergeant major." She said quickly._

"_Farron...I think you're the only woman in weapons." He cleared his throat before continuing, "If they give you any trouble for being a female...come straight to me..I'll sort them out." He assured her._

"_Thank you sir."_

"_Good. Anyway, for the next little while you guys will be fired through a variety of courses. First you'll probably go on your advanced machine gunners course. Followed by recce patrolmen and probably several vehicle courses." The CSM said thinking hard, "Oh and, weapons does just as many security taskings around the city as every other platoon so don't be surprised if you're guarding a Shinra held event sometime in the near future. Because you're new, the older guys in your platoon will be pawning off the shit jobs on you too, but it happens to everybody when they first arrive here." He smiled, but that did little to reassure the three new people standing at attention in front of him._

The older guardsmen had yet to even talk to the group of new people, let alone harass them for being new, Claire thought as she recalled the sergeant major's speech. It probably wouldn't be long until they did though. The battalion was intimidating for someone who had never been there before and Claire was always worried about doing something wrong. She had yet to find out what sort of punishments they dish out there.

…

Not being a very social person to begin with, Cloud felt very out of place in the OC cell office. There were about eight of them in the office, sitting around on the rolling chairs, laughing and joking. Cloud was the only new guy in the OC cell and no one had even asked him who he was when he entered the office and took a seat. He wished he was in one of the platoons that hung out in The Choke, that way he could at least be with a few people he knew. But here, he just sat in the corner feeling very uncomfortable as the rest of the office went on as if he wasn't even there.

After almost an hour of being that awkward guy who doesn't talk to anyone, a sergeant entered the office, donned in his signature red uniform and scanned the room until his eyes fell upon Cloud. "You Strife?" The young sergeant asked as the room quieted down.

"Uh, yes sergeant." Cloud answered as he stood up.

"Jesus...how old are you?" He huffed with a frown, looking over the very young private.

"15, sergeant." Cloud answered with embarrassment, hating when people asked about his age.

"Hmph...anyway, I got some papers for you to sign." He told him as he motioned for Cloud to come over to the table he was standing against. "I'm sergeant Hutz by the way, if you need anything, I'm the guy you come and see." He told Cloud who nodded. "Here, I just need you to sign these papers." He said putting a folder down on the table. "It's a course load document. You're going on your communications course next week. Lucky for you, you're going to be the OC's new signaller."

"Is that a radioman?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, the current signaller for the OC is in Wutai right now." Hutz chuckled as he scratched his orange hair. "You use a radio much during battleschool?"

"A little.."

"Well, whenever we go to the field, it's going to be your full time job." The sergeant grinned as he closed the folder after Cloud was finished signing the document. "Thanks..." He said over his shoulder as he left the room. Cloud turned around to face the rest of the office to find many of the men muffling their laughs as they looked at him. Cloud frowned and ignored them while he went to return to his seat.

"Shit man, sucks to be you.." The corporal sitting next to Cloud said with a shake of his head as he sat down.

"How come?"

A few of the other men exchanged smirks before the man answered, "Well for starters, the OC- Major Wells, is a fucking asshole. And secondly, being the OC's radioman is one of the worst jobs you can have." Cloud swallowed hard, not sure if these men were telling the truth or just trying to scare him, "Aside from spending each waking minute with a headset strapped to your goddamn head, you have to monitor two radio nets at the same time. Both battalion net and company net, while at the same time letting the OC know what's coming down and writing down every single thing that's being said, there's literally no down time for the OC's radioman." Cloud frowned, that did sound like it sucked, "And to top it all off, you have to do this shit while you're dismounted, carrying the radio and extra batteries, ammo, food and water for both you and the OC, _everything._"

Cloud looked around at the faces of the other men to see that they were all nodding with serious faces, "Re-really?" He asked quietly. The man raised both eyebrows and nodded slowly. Cloud let out a depressed sigh, instantly dreading his new job. "But, I'm brand new. How come I have to do this job?" He tried arguing.

"Cause it fucking sucks and you're new!" The corporal laughed, "We've all done it at one point or another. We're all signallers too, just for the platoon commanders though."

Cloud rubbed his eyes and sighed again. He wished he was just a regular riflemen with zero responsibility, like during battleschool. Granted, he hadn't sigged for the OC yet but from the way the older guys described it, he wasn't going to enjoy it. How was he supposed to make it into SOLDIER if he was going to be talking on a radio the entire time?

…

"Five minutes Farron. No rush."

"Okay..." Claire answered the master corporal as the man exited the break area. Aside from the two privates working the canteen, Claire was the only person left in the break area. She sat at one of the dozen circular tables that surrounded a large TV, drinking a vitamin water and enjoying her short break from course. It had only been five weeks since she arrived at the battalion but she was already becoming comfortable with working there. She was still considered brand new in terms of 'time in' but she had made her face known throughout C company and wasn't quite a stranger to everyone anymore. Not to mention she was on her advanced machine gunners course and was actually having a pretty good time.

"Just a bottle of water..." Claire turned away from the TV to see Cloud at the counter of the canteen, ordering a drink. He received his beverage and noticed Claire sitting by herself, giving her a small wave for a greeting.

"Hey." She greeted back unenthusiastically. He cracked open the water while he sat down next to her and looked at the TV, which was on the news channel. "How's it going?" She asked.

"Okay I guess, you?"

"Good, I'm on the AMG course right now. It's good, we do a lot of shooting." She told him.

"Wish I was doing that..." He mumbled, "I'm on a stupid comms course." He griped as Claire frowned with a smirk.

"Really? You're going to be a radioman?"

"Yeah...for the OC, major Wells." Cloud sighed, Claire laughing at him but feeling sympathetic at the same time.

"That's really too bad. You probably would have liked weapons platoon, Pete fits right in with those idiots." Claire huffed.

"That will be you someday. I heard stories about the games you guys play back there..." Cloud chuckled as Claire shook her head defensively.

"Umm no."

Cloud smiled before turning to the TV, watching it for a few minutes while he finished his water. "Have you talked to your family since you got here?"

"I sent them a letter explaining what happened but I've yet to get a response." She said as her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah...I felt so sorry for you when they told us we were all getting posted here." He told her, "It wasn't fair, with only one more day before you got to go home."

"You don't need to tell me. I know I got screwed. At this point I wouldn't mind if they sent us over to Wutai, I need an outlet." She said staring off into the TV.

"I bet if you write enough memos to get posted to Junon, they'll eventually send you there." Cloud suggested.

"No, no I already asked about that. It won't work. But I gotta go..." Claire said looking at her watch and standing up. "There's machine guns for me to service and whatnot. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay..." Cloud said a little disappointed, hoping she could have stayed a little longer so he could have someone he knew to talk to.

"Hey, are you guys in the OC cell ever aloud out of your office?" Claire stopped to asked.

"Yeah." Cloud huffed with a smirk.

"You should come down to The Choke some time then. Even though it's my job, I hate associating with the guys from weapons." She chuckled, "It just gets boring sitting by myself all day."

"I feel the same way in the OC cell." Cloud nodded, "Yeah, I'll probably drop by once in awhile."

Claire smiled and turned to leave the break area, "I'll keep my eye open for you." She told him with a little wave.

Cloud went back to watching the flickering TV, wondering if maybe he should get back to the comms course. He remembered visiting The Choke one time when he first arrived at battalion. It was a large garage with about 8 bays that had their own doors, big enough for armoured vehicles to fit through. Each bay was separated by rows of white lockers that the guardsmen locked their personal equipment in. Weapons, 2nd , and 3rd platoon hung out in The Choke, most of them just sitting on chairs in a circle in one of the open bays or on a vehicle. Cloud noted that it was very hazy in there, mainly because everybody smoked back there and also because of running vehicles when people were doing maintenance on them. Needless to say, he didn't think too highly of the place, not to mention the idiotic behavior of the weapons platoon. He didn't necessarily want to spend any more time back there then he needed to, but Claire was his friend and he knew she didn't want to be back there anymore then he did. So if he could make the experience a little bit better for her just by being back and giving her someone to talk to then he would do it. They rarely saw each other anymore, random passings throughout the battalion or at the gym were the only times, and he did enjoy her company. It also got him out of the office where the men he worked with weren't the friendliest to him.

"Strife!"

Cloud's heart skipped a beat as someone shouted his name from behind him. "Yes?" He spun around to identify the person, finding it to be one of the fat siggs who was his instructor for the comms course.

"The hell are you doing up here?" The fat man with a pencil-thin mustache demanded, angry that one of his students was up in the canteen instead of down at the company lines with the rest of the course.

"Oh um...was just getting some water." He stammered as he pointed at his empty water bottle, "I had a headache. I think its from the equipment we're working with...radiowaves and such..you know?"

The sig looked at him like he was insane, "Get the hell back downstairs!" He bellowed across the canteen.

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><p><strong>Not much but trust me, storm clouds are brewing...figurative storm clouds that is. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you don't understand some of the acronyms or lingo, send me a PM and i'll fill you in. I know this chapter is boring but keep with it, the next string of chapters are going to get exciting! Drop me a review if you want, I know there isnt much to say about this chapter but anything will do.<strong>


	11. A Method To The Madness

**I've just been enjoying summer too much to write, sorry.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 11: A Method To The Madness<strong>_

"...requesting permission to shut down the net...over." Cloud said into the handset. He waited a few moments for a response while watching the dozens of guardsmen filing past him down the hill towards the vehicles that would take them home.

"Training control, request to shut down the net has been authorized...over." The response crackled over the static radio.

Cloud paused a second before keying the handset, "India Three-Niner, shutting down. OUT." Once the transmission was complete, he immediately undid his chinstrap on his helmet, removed it and scratched his throbbing head. Three weeks of constantly listening to the drone of that cursed radio had finally ended. Turning to his backpack, Cloud opened it up and stuffed the handset into it while switching the radio off. "Good to go sir." He called to the OC- major Wells, who was standing with several of the platoon commanders a few meters away. The major merely glanced at Cloud, not acknowledging what he said with words, just a glance. "Hmph..." Cloud huffed at how ridiculous the man was, having come to despise him for being extremely arrogant. He wouldn't have to deal with him for at least five days during the week off they were being given though.

It had been a long; cold, exhausting, and miserable training exercise on the plains surrounding Midgar. It was a battalion-wide exercise, meaning the entire battalion was involved, every company. Three weeks of massive combat team attacks with the armoured and engineers, preparing for a war against a force that no body of government on the planet possessed other then Shinra. Cloud had spent the entire time relaying transmissions for the OC on battle movements and coordinating assaults with the rest of the companies. Considering the scale of the exercise and the amount of troops involved, something was always going on, meaning that Cloud was constantly glued to his radio from the moment he opened his eyes in the early morning hours until he closed them late at night.

With the final attack done and the after action reviews completed, 'End Ex' was called and the battalion was to head home to Midgar. The fall rains had kept the majority of the troops good and soaked, and with the biting winds of the wide open plains, they had been chilled to the bone for most of the ex.

"Strife!" Cloud turned to someone calling his name. Sergeant Hutz, who was filing in with the rest of 1st platoon to the trucks, walked over to him as Cloud stood up. He nodded to Cloud, this being the only time he had seen him during the ex. "Don't you look happy..." He commented sarcastically. "The OC doesn't need you anymore so feel free to hop on any of the trucks 1st platoon is taking back." He told him as Cloud breathed deep and nodded.

"Okay sergeant thanks." He replied before turning to his backpack and stuffing his signallers log into in.

"Having fun?" Cloud looked up to see Pete filing by, leading weapons platoon down the hill. Cloud smirked and shook his head. He may have had a hard exercise in terms of having a technical job but anyone in weapons platoon had a hard go in terms of physical work. As the troops past him in single file, Cloud noticed how exhausted they all looked, slogging along with their heavy weaponry but all of them had some sort of small smile or grin, for they were about to go home.

Throwing his weighed down backpack on, Cloud began the trudge down the hill towards the trucks. He was more then ready to get the hell out of there and have a little nap on the trucks back to Midgar. Down at the bottom of hill, he waited in line to jump on one of the lorries.

"We're full, man." The man sitting at the tailgate said as Cloud went to climb up.

"Can you move down?" He asked as he continued climbing aboard.

"Hey! We're fucking full, find another truck." The man snapped harshly as Cloud blinked in surprise at his sudden hostility.

"Do you know what other lorries 1st platoon is taking?"

"No." The man said quickly, offering no assistance as Cloud jumped off the tailgate and rolled his eyes. Walking among the dozens of troops filing onto the line of trucks, Cloud searched for Pete, hoping to get on his truck, not caring if it was 1st platoon's or not, just wanting to get out of there.

"Cloud?" He heard Claire's voice after he bumped into someone waiting in line.

"Oh, hey Claire." He stopped and looked around for Pete one last time before walking over to her. "How's it going?"

She shrugged and gave a frown, "What are you doing?" She asked, wondering why he was wandering aimlessly amongst everyone.

"I'm trying to find a truck to get on."

"Just get on this one." She said as she pointed to the one she was currently lined up to get on.

"I guess it doesn't really matter which one I get on..." Cloud nodded. "Alright..."

"Who do you even work for?"

"Well the OC but he doesn't give me directions on what to do. I sort of just find out through the grape-vine." Cloud tried explaining, knowing that it wouldn't make sense to the average person that he didn't have a boss.

"How was it for you?" Claire asked, wondering how life as the OC's radioman was.

Cloud huffed with a grin and shake of his head, "You don't want to know..." He said as his eyes stared off into space, recalling the administrative horrors and melodramatic people he had to associate with.

"You look tired." Claire commented, noticing the bags under his eyes.

"Well you look exhausted." Cloud countered. "Everyone from weapons looks exhausted." They were all covered in dried mud, were slouching badly under their heavy weapons that they braced on their shoulders, and their general body language shouted 'we're in shut it down mode'.

"Yes, yes I'm quite tired." Claire gave a fake smile. "Weapons is hard work..." She said as the man in front of her gave her a hand up to the back of the lorry. She turned around and gave Cloud a hand getting up as well and the two of them took a seat side by side on one of the benches. "At least we're getting out of here before it starts snowing."

"I could've sworn it was snowing last night around midnight...or there was sleet with the rain." The back of the truck filled and the tailgate was thrown up, everyone waiting in anticipation for the vehicle to start moving. After several minutes, the truck jerked forward and several people gave halfhearted cheers that they were finally leaving that desolate land.

"Hey who are you?" The person sitting across from Cloud asked, a young stocky boy sporting a somewhat hostile look.

"Strife." Cloud answered before turning back to Claire, annoyed that he was interrupted.

"Aren't you the OC's sig?" The boy asked again as Cloud breathed deep and nodded. "So why are you on this truck? It's a weapons truck."

"...going to the same goddamn place." Cloud scowled deeply before turning again, back to Claire. "Anyway...you were saying?"

Claire giggled before looking between Cloud and her comrade who had just finished a few exchanges with him. She continued her story about how their tent caught on fire one night when someone kicked over their portable stove, almost killing the eight occupants. Cloud nodded while she talked, doing his best to pay attention but he was still rattled by his short exchange with the boy sitting across from him. He was getting sick of being treated like dirt for no reason. It was either because he was the OC's sig or because of how young he looked. Many of the people he worked with were still in their teens, aside from the masters and above, so he couldn't understand why he was given such a hard time. He was out there, under the same conditions and doing the same job but wasn't being treated as one of them.

"...burnt the hell out of my sleeve..." Claire smirked as she held up her arm, revealing the tattered and burnt forearm of the right sleeve.

"Whoa..." Cloud blinked in surprise. "Did it bring back memories?" He joked as her eyes narrowed.

"Almost."

"Hey uh-" Cloud leaned in close to her and lowered his voice. "Does anyone ever give you a hard time for how young you are?"

"Umm," She frowned as she thought about it. "Not really. I think I get it a little easier because I'm a girl actually. They give me easier jobs and less stuff to carry...I guess they think I wouldn't be able to handle it." She huffed.

"Not far from the truth..." Cloud quipped quietly.

Claire was visibly taken aback from his teasing, but she smiled through it and began her counter. "You listen here radio-boy..." She said pointing a finger at him and narrowing her eyes. He chuckled and averted his gaze while she shot back. "We can't all have a cushy job following around the major, cooking his meals and shining his boots..."

"I don't do that!" Cloud laughed. "You have _no_ idea what I do."

"Like hell I don't." She smirked,

"Whatever, I'm going to sleep now. Maybe someday I'll tell you what I actually do." He replied while manerveuring into a more comfortable position and shutting his eyes.

The ride back into Midgar seemed much too short for the sleeping occupants of the military lorries. Most of the battalion was arriving back at their building and the main floor was packed with vehicles, troops, and equipment. And so began the longest part of any exercise- Post-Ex cleanup. When everyone arrives back from a long field ex, dirty, tired, and wanting to go home but can't just yet. Instead, they have to clean every piece of equipment and every vehicle until their superiors cut them loose. The longest few hours of any exercise.

"Catch." Cloud turned around after he dismounted the truck to see Claire standing on the tailgate. Before he was even ready, she tossed down the mortar baseplate she had been carrying. He was barely able to grab the large circular metal plate with one hand, giving her a dirty look before she jumped off.

"Thanks for the warning..." He griped as he handed it back to her.

"Ehh, you caught it..." She shrugged.

"I better find sergeant Hutz...see you later." Cloud said. He slung his rifle and went in search of the man.

"Oh, Cloud!" Claire called before he got too far away. "Most of the guys in weapons are going out for drinks at that place downtown...what was it called? We went to it that one time on PAT..." She frowned as she tried to remember.

"Uhh...Oscar...Oscar Zees?" Cloud blurted.

"Yeah. But anyway, I don't know if you and the OC are planning on hanging out later but you're welcome to come if you want." She invited sweetly.

"Oh!" Cloud said surprised. "Umm," He scratched his head and chuckled. "Since when do you go out and socialize with other human beings?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, "It's been a hard three weeks..."

"Well...I guess I'll have to cancel my plans with the OC but yeah, I'll come out." He answered. Claire smiled and gave him a little nod before she turned and walked away.

Two long and frustrating hours later, and Cloud was sitting in his office with the rest of the OC cell, waiting to get dismissed. Many of them had been poking good-natured fun at Cloud for how he had conducted himself during the ex and also for his troublesome radio procedures. He took it with an embarrassed smirk, knowing that he deserved some of the jokes. It had been his first time sigging and no one does it without making a few mistakes.

"Okay guys," One of the master corporals entered the room, silencing the chattering. "We're just waiting on Hutz, he's just going to confirm that we can get the hell out of here and go home." He informed. Cloud scratched his messy blonde hair, anxious to go take a long shower. "Hey Strife, good job sigging out there. It's never easy the first time." The older man complimented. Cloud thanked him just before Hutz entered the room, looking just as tired and dirty as everyone else.

"Listen up homos." He grunted as he leaned against one of the filing cabinets and looked down at the piece of paper he was holding. "We're done here, first timing is next Monday...0730 for PT." Several of the men mumbled happily to each other about the impending week off. "Before you go...I just have one more thing to pass off...you'll probably want to hear it." He cleared his throat and looked up from the paper. "In the three months that our sister company has been deployed to Wutai to quell that little uprising, this is the first time we've received an official report from Shinra on what's going on over there...and it's not good. What we got from the report is that so far...the entire task force, which the majority of is comprised of K company...has lost 65 killed and an unknown amount of wounded."

The room erupted in curses of disbelief, unsure if they had heard right. "65 killed from what?" One of the corporals asked.

"Shinra is calling them Wutai rebels at this point. The task force's job was to put down the protests that were going on in several of the southern Wutai villages, but apparently the villages managed to amass a large force of fighters. Last week sometime, they attacked one of the occupation forces at one of the villages...and wiped them out. It's shitty news to come back to...I know we all have friends in K company." Hutz said gravely.

"How the hell did they lose 65 guys?" Another man asked aloud.

"I don't know. But these 'rebels' must have a pretty big force to be able to inflict that much damage." Hutz told them. "We didn't receive the names of those who were killed, we're still waiting for another report. Sorry for being the guy to have to tell you guys that, it's a shitty way to end an exercise." Cloud frowned as he looked around the room, many of the men there had friends in K company, and not knowing if they were alive or not was worse then knowing. "But yeah...that's all I got...so have a good week off." The sergeant ended sadly before he left he room. It was quiet for a few moments as everyone looked around at each other, still shocked at the news.

…

"Hmm..." Cloud stared into his closet at the sad wardrobe. He really needed to buy more clothes, wearing plain t-shirts with cargo pants was getting old. He pulled a white shirt from one of the hangers and threw it on before looking in the mirror over his desk. "Meh.." He shrugged, his preparation for the night was complete. Grabbing the keys to his room, he left for Claire's wing of the barracks. The large single barracks where most of the young guardsmen stayed was very much like an apartment complex. Except each apartment was only a tiny room with a single bed and nothing else. It was a travesty that he had to pay to live there, but he just couldn't afford to move out yet.

Over at Claire's wing, he found her room and knocked at the door, hoping she hadn't left yet.

"Hey." Claire greeted a little surprised when she answered the door.

"Hey, you still going to Oscar Zees tonight?" Cloud asked,

"Yep...right away actually. You still coming?"

"Yeah-yeah definitely." He replied,

She opened the door for him and she went back into her room. Cloud took a few steps in and looked around, it was unsurprisingly neat and tidy with few personal items. Claire grabbed some money off of her desk before looking at herself in the mirror and running a hand through her hair. She wasn't done up in any way at all, jeans and a sleeveless black blouse. Almost as casually dressed as Cloud. "Ready?" She asked.

"Yep...are you sure you don't need to spend another 10 minutes brushing your hair or something?" He joked sarcastically.

She frowned at him as she walked past and out the door. Shutting it and locking it, she turned to him as he continued to grin. "Why? Am I supposed to be trying to impress someone?"

After a lengthy walk to the downtown area and almost getting lost, the two found the familiar pub, which was just beginning to get crowded. They recognized almost half the bar, for many of the people there were from Claire's weapons platoon, all grouped to one side of the tavern. It wasn't that late, only around 9:00PM but they could tell that their comrades had already been drinking quite steadily.

"Heyyy!" Pete greeted cheerfully when he noticed them walking over to his group. Cloud smiled and greeted him back while the four other people sitting at Pete's table looked up at him and Claire.

"Who are you? I see you around a lot but never heard your name?" One of the men asked.

"Strife...I'm the OC's sig." Cloud told him with a sigh, getting tired of constantly explaining who he was.

"Are you two going out or something? You're always hanging out together..." Another man asked as he pointed at Cloud and Claire. Pete burst out laughing almost immediately, prompting Claire to give him a deathly glare.

"Uh no." Cloud answered awkwardly.

"Well take a seat you losers...stay awhile." Pete motioned as he pushed a chair out from the table. "You drinking this time Claire?"

"I guess." She sighed while looking around the loud bar.

"Hey Cloud, did you hear about what happened to K company?" Pete asked,

"Yeah, 65 guys killed. Kinda hard to believe." He frowned.

"You think they'll send more guys?" Claire wondered aloud.

Pete shrugged as he took another sip of his drink, "I hope so...and I hope we're with them."

Fields, the private sitting beside Pete gave an exaggerated huff while he scowled. "Why's that? Anxious to kill someone?"

"Yeah...aren't you? Or are you happy with shooting at plaster targets for the rest of your life?" Pete said as he looked around the table.

"Whatever man..." Fields shook his head before turning to his drink. "How long have you been at the battalion for?"

"Uhh 3 months."

"Yeah exactly. Get used to battalion life, its boring but its better then getting killed out in some shithole."

"...thanks." Cloud said to the waitress after he and Claire ordered drinks. "I thought you hated the guys in weapons?" He whispered to Claire as Pete and Fields continued arguing.

"I did at first but...after working with them for three weeks straight in the field...they're not so bad...once you get to know them." She explained.

"I see...so they're assholes until you get used to them?"

Claire chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so." She said while looking over at several loud and boisterous men from weapons arguing about something. "How's working with the OC?"

"Oh god...don't get me started." Cloud said as he rubbed his face. "I've never met anyone as arrogant as him before in my life. He doesn't even call me by my name or rank just 'Signaller'." He said putting the word in air quotations.

"I'd probably call you signaller too if I was a major." Claire grinned.

"He doesn't carry any food or extra water either...I had to carry it all _and_ cook his meals for him." Cloud vented.

"Aha!" Claire exclaimed, her eyes going wide. "I knew you had to cook his meals!"

"Oh shut up, that's not the only thing I do for him." He hissed while she laughed at him. Their drinks finally arrived and Claire looked at her small glass of green alcohol. "The only good thing is that I always know what's going on everywhere because I'm monitoring all the radio nets. You ever had one of those before?" Cloud asked, referring to her drink.

"No...but I was told this is what people who don't drink too often..drink." She said as she took a sip.

"A whiskey sour? Careful, they go down quick." He warned as he sipped his own drink.

"I didn't know you drank enough to be offering advice." She said, her tone sinister.

"More then you..." He pointed out.

"It is good though..." She admitted, enjoying the sour drink

"Go easy, you don't want to end up like the rest of these guys..."

"What? drunk?"

"No, coming out here every night. That's what they do eh?" He told her.

"Every night?" She frowned, not believing him.

"Well not every night. But a few times a week. What else is there to do for a single guy or girl with no responsibilities or obligations?" He explained. "From what the guys in the OC cell tell me, this is how most people at the battalion deal with the job."

"I guess people don't have any self-control."

"Guess not."

"...oh give me a break Crawford...I would love to see you getting shot at..._Farron_ would be more dependable under fire then you." Fields argued with Pete. Claire snapped over to the conversation upon hearing her name. Not sure if it what Fields had said was a compliment or if she should take offense to it.

The night dragged on and the drinks stacked up, the atmosphere inside the bar becoming more rowdy as people had to constantly shout at each other to get their points across. Many of the men from weapons platoon had left in search of a new bar, leaving nine to remain. Cloud was feeling woozy but relaxed, and was enjoying listening to the mishaps, insanity, and hardships of previous training exercises that the older guys had been on, who like him, had grown up hearing stories of the Wutai War but had never gotten the chance to go themselves. Claire remained quiet for most of the night, sipping away at her drinks like they were water and finding her vision starting to double. It wasn't long before she had to cut herself off and make a loud note of it to Cloud to prove that she had self control.

"Claire, are you drunk?" Pete asked as a smile formed on his lips.

"Nope." She sniffed and tilted her head back.

Cloud was chuckling quietly to himself as he watched her, waiting for her to do or say something that would give away her inebriation. "You sure?"

"Are you?" She asked with a scowl.

"Kinda."

The smash of a beer bottle over at the bar sparked some interest with them as two men began yelling at each other. They recognized one of the men to be from weapons who was arguing with a much bigger man. Cloud's table wasn't able to make out what the men were saying until the much bigger man shouted "..Shinra Guard FUCK!" And shoved the guardsmen backwards over a stool. He crashed to the ground and another beer bottle broke.

"Hey fuck you!" Pete shouted, standing up and pointing at the man. Before Pete made it two steps, Fields hurled one of Claire's empty glasses at the large man, striking him in the face. The cup shattered and sent sharp glass shards into the man's face. Almost instantly the entire bar stood up and rushed towards the section the guardsmen occupied. Many vulgar obscenities were directed at the guardsmen along with many beer bottles.

"Holy shit!" Cloud swore as a bottle went flying past his head. The men from weapons jumped out of their seats and rushed into the bar battle, the dance floor becoming a tangle of flying fists and bodies. Cloud hadn't been in a fight since he was ten and that was with kids his own age, these people were almost twice his age...and armed. He looked at Claire who was just as dumbstruck at what to do as he was. They were outnumbered almost three to one and were losing badly.

"We should uh...get the hell out of here." Claire said as she watched a mob of people rush towards her.

"There's two!" One of the blood drunk bar hooligans shouted to his friends as he pointed at Cloud and Claire.

The exit was blocked and there was no way they would be able to get around the half dozen people coming at them. Another bottle was hurled and Cloud managed to dodge it again. The bottle went flying past and smashed one of the green stained glass windows behind him. "Come on!" Cloud yelled at Claire as he jumped over flipped chairs and tables for the smashed window. She quickly followed him, insane drunk psychos right behind her. She could barely believe it when he managed to dive through the window in his drunken state. He flew through the window and out into the street, landing hard on the pavement of a back alleyway. Claire vaulted out the window, slicing both of her hands on glass shards that lined window sill when she propelled herself through.

"Oww! Shit that hurt!" She cursed while looking down at her bloody hands.

"Run Claire!" Cloud yelled in warning from the ground when he saw several angry people trying to climb through the window.

"What-oh shit.."Claire took off running down the alleyway with Cloud right on her tail. "Where am I going!?"

"I don't know, just run!" He yelled back. Looking over his shoulder he saw a few people in the alleyway but he couldn't tell if they were chasing after him. He blinked a few times to try and focus his eyes but decided it was better just to run. They turned a few times in the twisting back alleyway, taking them deeper into the downtown.

"Are they still chasing us?" Claire yelled back to Cloud.

"I don't know, just keep running til we're out of here." He said back. Their wobbly sprint turned into a lazy jog and soon they were out of the alleyway and into a empty train yard. They stopped running and looked around for a road or way out of the train yard. "I have no idea where we are..."

"There's probably a road on the other side of those tracks over there." Claire said as she pointed across the half dozen train tracks to the other side of the wide open yard. Cloud shrugged, it was a better idea then just standing there. "Was there even anyone chasing us?" Claire asked after they cleared half of the yard.

"Yeah, but I don't know for how long...we probably didn't need to run as far we did." Cloud admitted, looking over his shoulder at the alley they came from.

"That really got out of hand, didn't it?" Claire said looking over.

"I hope the other guys are okay...I kinda feel bad for running away like we did."

"I don't know how much good we would have done in that brawl. People _really_ hate the Shinra Guard." She said with a depressed look. As they neared the edge of the train yard, they realized that there wasn't a road on the other side. In fact, there wasn't anything on the other side. What there was, was a missing section of the top plate that separates the slums from the topside. The hole was about the size of a football field and there appeared to be no fences, railings, or anything else that would to deter people from coming too close to the few hundred meter drop-off. "I wonder what happened here." Claire said as they stopped at the edge and looked down at the world below them.

"Careful.." Cloud warned, putting his hand on her shoulder when she came within a foot from the ledge. She gave him an odd look before taking a step back and sitting down, letting her legs dangle over the edge. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting down...and you?" She frowned before looking right over the edge and straight down. "Sure is quite the drop." She looked down at the tiny shacks and rubble that people lived in, the place resembling just that: a slum.

"You think we're aloud to be here?" Cloud asked looking around at the dark train yard. He sat down cross-legged a safe couple feet away from the edge, not as eager as Claire to plummet to his death.

She shrugged and looked up at the only light source in their entire view, the Shinra headquarters building off in the distance, giving off a eerily unnatural bright white light. The building was massive and was the tallest thing out there, menacing to just look at, not to mention to wonder what was conspiring inside. "Look at that place. You think president Shinra even _knows_ that 65 people just died for his power company?" She asked with a sneer.

"I doubt it. We're just guns for hire." Cloud replied, knowing exactly what he was. "How you feeling by the way?"

Claire raised her eyebrows as she looked over, "Good, actually. Tired though." She said with her eyes half open and a wry smirk on her lips.

Cloud grinned, she was still drunk. He leaned on his knees and looked a little closer at her, making sure she wasn't going to end up falling off the edge. "So are you going to start going out to the bar regularly now?" He joked.

She scowled and laughed aloud, "Yeah right, because I loved getting chased out of a bar and down an alley."

"Really? Because it seemed like you did.." He smirked, causing her to attempt to give him a friendly shove. His heart skipped a beat when he swayed near the edge but managed to catch his balance. "If I fall, I'm taking you with me." He promised.

"So I take it you're going to start coming out here more often...or do you already?" She asked,

"No...I'm going to start getting ready for SOLDIER selection. It may not be for at least a year but I want to be as ready as I can get." He explained while she sighed and shook her head. "What?" He asked annoyed.

"You've really got to give that up, Cloud."

"Give what up?"

"The whole SOLDIER thing." She said seriously.

"Why do you care? I'm not asking you to do it with me," He frowned as he stared hard at her, "I know it's going to be hard, you don't need to remind me."

"The reason I don't think you should try out for it is because not only will it be extremely difficult but you're doing it for all the wrong reasons." She told him as she swung her legs up onto the pavement and faced him. "And let's say you do make it...do you think you're really going to be able to go and see this girl that often? No, you're going to be busy doing all of Shinra's dirty work...things that are less morally sound then what we even do now." Cloud blinked and looked away, his gaze falling on the Shinra headquarters. It was hard to have dreams when no one had faith in you. "I'm not trying to be mean. I'm your friend and I don't want to see you get hurt chasing after some impossible dream that's supposed to have a fairytale ending." Cloud remained silent, preferring her when she was sober and a little more merciful. "Oh...don't get mad..I'm sorry." She said sincerely, her expression softening. "Don't you think you've done enough? I mean you left home and gave up everything you ever knew, what more does this girl expect from you? If she expects you return a SOLDIER..." Claire huffed and shook her head, "It doesn't matter who she is...she's not worth it." When Cloud didn't respond she sensed that she had offended. It needed to be said though. He continued staring out across the city with a deep frown, not appreciating how she constantly had to rain on his parade. "Cloud?" She said softly.

"Yeah?" He responded unenthusiastically.

"What's this girl like? Why are you doing all of this for her?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Why do you want to know? So you can tell me I'm an idiot and that I shouldn't waste my time?" He spat with a deep scowl. "No thanks..." Standing up, Cloud crossed his arms and breathed deep while he looked around the train yard.

"You're going to leave? Alright, see you later then..." Claire said bidding him farewell with a slight wave of her hand. She swung her legs back over the side of the ledge and grimaced as she inspected the cuts on her hands.

"I'm not going to leave..." Cloud told her with an slightly exasperated tone. Claire went about picking glass out her cuts, mumbling something under her breath while she did. "Hmm?" Cloud frowned.

"You're still here?" She asked,

Cloud sighed and sat back down, still shying away from edge. "Well...what did you want to know?"

"If you don't want to talk about, you don't have to." She told him looking up, "It's none of my business, so I won't pry anymore."

"No, no it's okay. I don't know why I get so embarrassed whenever the subject comes up." He said with a scratch of his head.

"It just means you really like her..."

"Heh...yeah." He said quietly to himself. Claire turned to face him, waiting for him to continue on. Cloud paused a few moments until he noticed she was staring. "Oh, um...well..."

"What's her name?" Claire helped with a smirk.

"Tifa..her name's Tifa." He said. Just saying her name brought a small smile to his face.

"And why does Tifa pull Cloud Strife's heartstrings?" She smiled, watching him become visibly uncomfortable.

"It's hard to explain." He frowned, "I mean, growing up I never really had any friends. I was sort of the black sheep in my town. The other kids didn't treat me very well...they would be sort of nice with me one on one..but in a group they all enjoyed picking on me." He explained, Claire listening closely. "Tifa had always lived beside me but I never really knew her that well until a few years ago. She was different from the other kids, she was always nice to me, even in front of the others and never put me down. She was my only friend and the only person I could talk to whenever I had problems or was having a bad day." Claire couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He may have been a little socially awkward at times but it was hard to imagine that he could have had such a rough childhood. "A few years back, just after Tifa's mother died, there was an accident involving both Tifa and me in which she got injured. The townspeople blamed me for getting their perfect little girl hurt and I wasn't allowed to see her for the longest time. It _was_ my fault that she got hurt...because I wasn't strong enough to save her. So two summers ago I promised I would leave and wouldn't come back until I returned a SOLDIER and stronger. She told me not to forget about her and if I was to come back home that she would wait for me..." He finished, swallowing hard.

"Well...I hope she waits for you. Even if you don't go home a SOLDIER, she'll still want to see you...I know I would." She smiled, finding his story both very somber and very sweet.

"Thanks..." He said quietly, running a finger along the edge of the drop off. "So now you know."

"Thanks for telling me Cloud." She thanked, knowing it wasn't easy to talk about. "I won't bring it up again."

He nodded while he flicked a few tiny pebbles off the edge, watching them sail out of sight. "How's the hands?" He asked, noticing her bloody palms.

"Doesn't hurt too bad." She shrugged, probably because she was still tipsy.

"So...I think it's your turn now." He said as he motioned towards her.

"My turn?"

"Well you know the full story of why I'm here...what's yours?"

Claire chuckled quietly to herself and shook her head, "It doesn't compare to yours. I just come from a poor family that needs money. Now come on..." She slowly began to stand up, "Let's get out of here."

She stumbled momentarily but was able to shakily get to her feet, Cloud laughing at her as she looked around, disorientated. "You okay?"

"How the hell do we get out of here?" She mumbled,

"I think we can go back the way we came...it's probably safe now." He told her as he began walking in the direction of the alley.

"It sure was a crazy night." Claire said, thinking back to the bar brawl. "I wonder if Pete is still alive?" She wondered calmly.

"I hope so." Cloud said, the end of his sentence turning into a chuckle, finding it funny how unconcerned Claire was for their friend.

…

It was hard to keep something like that a secret. Even during morning PT, before everyone went into work, there were rumors surrounding what had happened during the week off. Claire knew what ever had happened was serious, for even her chain of command was talking in hushed tones to each other. After PT, and right after she reached The Choke, one of the sergeants called the younger members of weapons platoon together.

"Battalion parade in fifth-teen minutes out on the main floor. The CO wants to address us all, apparently it has to do with the rumors circulating about that shit in Wutai." The man in red told his troops.

Once he left, Claire turned to Pete who was sporting several small bits of medical tape on his face from the brawl the previous week. "Okay...why the hell is everybody so freaked out? I was on the track running today and everybody was standing around talking the whole time...and they all looked really serious." She said to him, "What happened in Wutai? We lose more guys or something?"

"I don't know...I guess we'll find out in fifth-teen minutes though." Pete told her as most of C company began to file out of The Choke and out onto the main floor. They followed their comrades out to the main floor where most of the battalion was beginning to gather. At the front of the large group was the battalion sergeant major, the CO's right hand man who struck fear in the heart of every trooper. The short man looked around and began to ask the company sergeant majors if all of their troops were present. When he was content, he barked for the troops to quiet down.

"The CO is on his way down," He yelled to the 500 some people that surrounded him, "We won't form up, just keep this semi-circle and for fuck sakes...keep your mouths shut, this shit is important." The angry man told the men and women of his battalion.

It was completely silent when the CO entered their midst, the only sound coming from his boots. He stopped next to the battalion sergeant major and looked among the many faces that waited patiently for him to address them. "Good morning troops...I hope you enjoyed your week off...it's going to be your only time off for quite some time." He cleared his throat and held up a piece of paper for everyone to see, "I hold here...a letter from president Shinra that I received yesterday...and folks...it's not a very nice letter." He held the letter in front of his face as he began to read it, "It reads..."

"_Colonel Richards, It is with deep disappointment that I am sending this to you. Four months ago I tasked you with what had appeared to be the relatively easy job of dealing with several small protests taking place abroad near several of our military outposts. I tasked you: The Commanding Officer of my most prestigious military battalion, which is globally unmatched in terms of training and technology, to quickly and quietly handle this unpleasantness. Today however, I received word that not only have these protests not been silenced but that they have grown to the point of armed uprisings. I was also made aware that we have sustained almost 250 casualties from a primitive people that live in wooden huts. Now I'm not sure if you just chose to keep your best and brightest behind, or if all your troops are as incapable of fighting and winning against unorganized Wutai rebels as those who are currently over there but any way you look at it, it brings a great deal of embarrassment to myself; my corporation, the ENTIRE 1st battalion of the MidGuard, and most of all you. Seeing how I have vastly overrated the professionalism and lethality of the guardsmen of your battalion, I will authorize you to assemble another task force of equal or lesser strength to depart for Wutai immediately. Sort this mess out Colonel, or I will relieve you of your command and find someone who will."_

"Signed, President Shinra..." Colonel Richards finished slowly. He lowered the paper and looked at the faces of his men. Many of them wore looks of conflicted anger, feeling like they had been betrayed by Shinra. "That man...that man hasn't got the faintest idea of what is happening over there right now. Does he seem to forget that he was in a war for almost a decade with the same people? He only let me send a fraction of the men I wanted to send...and when we are unable to do the job, he gives us this?" He fumed as he waved the letter. He huffed and shook his head, astounded by the ridiculousness of the situation he had been put in. "112 dead, 50 wounded, and 80 missing. Those are the numbers. That means that there are under 100 men in fighting condition, the task force is completely combat ineffective. We have one week...one week to prepare before we depart." He said loudly so everyone could hear him. "I'm sending A and C company, B company will stay here. I've also managed to secure the aid of my good friend lieutenant-colonel Lionol, who is CO of Junon's regiment. He has pledged to send us one of his rifle companies, giving us a total of about 450 troops. That's it though...there will be no artillery, armoured, or air support going with us."

Claire peered around the people in front of her to keep her eye on the CO. It was hard to believe what he was saying was true, it had to have been some sort of drill or something.

"There will be an o-group upstairs in the lecture theater for all of the company and platoon commanders. It will detail everything that we know so far, as well as our tactical intent once we land on the ground over there." The CO said, "That's all I have for now...we all have work to do." He said turning and departing the mass of people. It was quiet for half a second before there was an eruption of chattering. People could hardly believe that within a weeks time, they would be on their way to Wutai where hundreds of their comrades were either dead or dying. The company sergeant majors attempted to gain control of their men and get them back to their respective company areas but their voices just weren't loud enough. Claire was caught in the mass of people, staring off while deep in thought. She just stood there as people bumped into her, arguing and expressing their fears and doubts. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about the situation. It seemed too soon. She had been a Shinra guardsmen barely a year and here she was been shipped off to fight already. If men who had spent years training, were getting massacred, where did that put her? All of a sudden she realized that she wanted to go home.

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><p><strong>Oh shit. Stay tuned, things are going to get good and violent.<strong>


	12. Last Laugh of the Bluecoats

**Lol wut**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 12: Last Laugh of the Bluecoats<strong>_

The temperature had flip flopped since the convoy's stop off in sunny Costa Del Sol. That combined with the seasickness and anxiety of the possibility of a violent death, had left many of the passengers hugging the railing surrounding the ship, emptying their guts into the churning waters.

Cloud wasn't necessarily looking forward to reaching his destination but he just wished that they would arrive there soon so he could get off that boat. He was prone to motion sickness in most vehicles, and large troop carrying sea vessels were no exception. He had spent the majority of his time aboard fighting back the constant nausea.

The past week had been hectic preparing for the deployment, with the company quartermasters scrambling to find enough equipment and supplies to sustain them for the duration. They had departed Midgar without adequate rations, fuel, or ammunition, but luckily, when they reached Junon, they were able to stock up on their shortcomings.

After picking up the infantry company that Junon had promised them, the task force left the port and stopped off at Costa Del Sol for one last day of tranquility before they headed north for Wutai. The convoy consisted of one troop transport ship for the task force of 450 guardsmen, and two transports for the dozens of vehicles they were bringing with them.

Sergeant Hutz, the man who Cloud received his direction from, exited the mass passenger quarters in search of all the men he was responsible for. Periodically doing checks on his men was apart of the job that came with the rank. Walking onto the main deck, he shivered in the frigid ocean breeze, missing the sun and beach of Costa Del Sol. He walked among the dozens of troops that lined the deck, many of them leaning up against the railing in case they needed to vomit. It wasn't hard to pick Cloud out in the string of men, his signature hair gave him away from any distance.

"Strife." He called to the young man as he neared him.

Cloud looked up from the railing, his face as white as a ghost except his nose which was red from the cold. "Yes?" He forced out.

"How you holding up?" Hutz asked with a frown.

"Sea sick..."

"That...or are you still sick from yesterday?" Hutz grinned.

Cloud managed a weak smile as he thought of the crazy day of drinking and bad decisions at Costal Del Sol. "Maybe a little...but I usually don't do good on boats."

"Don't stay out here too long, its freezing. I don't want you getting pneumonia or some shit." The sergeant warned before turning to go back inside the warm cabin.

Cloud nodded but wasn't sure if he would be able to manage inside. The motion sickness was twice as bad and he had already been warned about throwing up inside.

Claire was finding sleep to be close to impossible on that ship. With all the activity going on around her, not to mention the rocking of the ship, she was unable to catch more then a few minutes of sleep here and there so she ended up just staring out one of the port windows. It was a pretty miserable day out, cloud cover with spitting rain. It wasn't long before the weak outlines of small mountains appeared on the horizon. She continued staring lazily out the window, the land form slowly becoming more visible.

Turning to Pete who was laying down opposite of her on his duffel bag trying to sleep, she gave him a nudge in the leg with her foot. "Pete,"

His eyes opened instantly, indicating he had not been sleeping at all, "Hmm?"

"We're almost there..." Claire trailed off.

He sat up and looked out the small round port window at the intimidating dark mass that they were heading for. "Exciting..." He said sarcastically before collapsing back onto his duffel bag.

An hour later, the convoy reached the Wutai peninsula and Shinra's only port that could dock ships that size. It was merely two large docks, a small crane, and two buildings near the shore. There were also tens of modular tents set up near the buildings with people walking among them. The majority of the ship's occupants were standing on the deck to get a good look at the land they would be living in for the next few months. It was a dreary place, almost no green landscape or trees, mostly rocky hills and wide open tundra. There was very little going on in the camp that surrounded the docks, given that what remained of the previous task force resided here, it was unnerving to only see a few of them walking about.

The next few hours were spent offloading all of the equipment and vehicles from the ships, and marshaling them near the camp. The arriving guardsmen were instructed not to enter any of the modular tents or the two buildings for most of the wounded troops occupied them. The men they did see couldn't have looked any more miserable, months of god only knew what had taken a very visible toll on them. It wasn't until the offloading was complete and everything was squared away before the troops of the new task force were able to listen to the stories of their predecessors.

Never being too far away from C company's OC, major Wells, Cloud was able to listen in on the man while he had a conversation with K company's OC.

"...What happened here, Darrel?" Wells asked his friend, just as mortified as anyone who had arrived.

The other OC swallowed hard as he watched the wounded who had managed to survive, being carried onto the ships. He had a scraggly beard, worn out and filthy uniform, and a weapon that was orange with rust. "I don't know...I mean...the first town we went into, we stopped the protests, everything was fine. I left 3rd platoon behind while we moved onto the next town, and before we had gone 10km they radioed us saying they were under attack from an organized Wutai force. I sent my 1st platoon back and they found the town burnt to the ground and found all of our men wiped out." He explained with some difficulty.

"How? I don't understand...do the Wutai even have firearms?" Wells questioned.

"No, we don't know how they ambushed them. They blocked the roads in the mountains about 2 weeks ago, trapping us in the hills with nowhere to go. The first night they attacked us over and over, most of our leadership was killed and we became unorganized. We had to abandon all of our vehicles and try to make our way back to the port. They raided us constantly throughout our march back here. We could only take so many wounded with us...there's almost 100 men that we left behind. There's 40 men left in my company Wells...40 men. HQ company has 50 left."

Cloud stopped eavesdropping when the K company OC began to tear up. Cloud turned away, in search of anyone familiar.

It was an emotional time for most of the new task force, almost all of them were just finding out who had made it and who had died. Even though they knew that a staggering amount had been killed before they arrived, they all held onto hope that their friends had maybe survived. For most, that wasn't the case. The members of K company issued warnings before they departed, stating that there wasn't enough of them to do the job. Not wasting any time, for the wounded were in need of medical attention, the troop transport departed for Junon with the tattered remains of the first task force, promising to return within a week with supplies.

"Pete!" Cloud called to his friend when he found weapons platoon. The older boy looked over from the circle of people he was standing with and walked over. "Have you talked to any of these guys yet?" He asked, his eyes wide.

"This is bad, really bad." Pete said gravely, his breath showing in the cold air. "Did you see all the bodies they loaded onto the ship?"

Cloud nodded, "And that's not even all of them...there's still about a hundred they left behind...I heard K company's OC talking." He spotted Claire walking in a hurry and he waved her over. She looked as concerned as everyone else about the situation.

"Can you believe any of this?" Pete asked her.

"No...this is all terrible. Did you hear? There hasn't been a resupply in two months here. They haven't eaten in two days..." She informed with a shake of her head.

"At least they're all on their way home now." Cloud said as several people began shouting for all of the leadership. "I'd better get back to my guys...see you guys in a bit."

…

Being the OC's radioman had its perks, Cloud thought to himself as he looked out the window of the vehicle he was driving in. The drizzling which had followed them since they first landed in Wutai continued to soak the troops, minus Cloud, the OC, and the driver of their vehicle. The remainder of the company rode along in open top lorries, shivering from the cold. Further up the dirt road a massive pile of boulders effectively blocked off access to the hills they were heading into. The lead vehicle of the convoy stopped and the troops of every vehicle began to dismount. Cloud followed behind the OC as the man called for all the platoon commanders. After a quick rundown on the scheme of maneuvers, the leadership split off to their respective platoons.

With the road inland blocked, the plan was to leave a platoon from A company behind with the vehicles while C company and the remainder of A continued towards their first objective on foot, over 8km away. Y company from the Junon garrison had been left in reserve at the Wutai port that would also act as a slow QRF if needed be. The task force's first objective was to further define hostile activity in the AO by first reccing the village in which K company had lost a platoon in, then either capture or destroy it, along with any occupants.

After an hour long pause at the roadblock in order to reorganize and to allow recce elements to push out first, the 2 companies began their trek into the hostile area. The ground was soaking wet and slippery with rocky grey hills providing a dreary landscape for the anxious troops. Seemingly never-ending rolling hills and zero vegetation or trees became reminiscent of the Midgar wastelands.

Two hours into the operation and Cloud's headset buzzed with the recce callsign radioing in to report that they had eyes on the village, codenamed objective IRON. Cloud scribbled down furiously on his notepad as he listened to the man on the other end. When the recce element had finished defining the village, Cloud handed his notepad to the OC while the man keyed the radio to tell them to stay in place. From what their recce callsign could see, the village was deserted with many of the oriental styled buildings and huts damaged in one way or another as the village had been a scene of violence a month earlier.

The task force continued on towards the village until they were within a kilometer, choosing to stay hidden in large culvert. At that point C company was ordered forward to take the village while A remained in a defensive posture in the culvert. With the recce callsign providing constant eyes on with sniper support, the company approached the village, its weapons platoon halted 200 meters away and set up a primary fallback position, from which the OC oversaw the advance.

Cloud lay next to the OC and watched the three platoons in front of him move towards the village. He kept on dreading that machine gun fire would erupt and they would all be instantly cut down, but he reminded himself that their enemy was still stuck in the dark ages in terms of weaponry. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Claire and Pete setting up a mortar tube several meters away. He caught Pete's eye and the other boy gave him a small grin, which puzzled Cloud. Turning back to the village, he observed as the men cautiously approached the first huts, before bursting inside.

"...first houses clear.." Crackled over the radio as Cloud repeated the sitrep to the OC. Any moment Cloud was expecting an explosion or gunfire...anything to initiate a terrible battle...but the only sound was the light raining. Several tense minutes passed before one of the platoon commanders came over the radio to report that the entire village was empty.

"Tell them to burn it." Major Wells quickly told Cloud as the man flipped through his notepad.

"Um..you mean the village?"

"Yes." The OC replied, obviously irritated.

"Uh..Three-One, this is Three-Niner. Burn the village, every house." Cloud said into the radio, a little unsure of himself.

There was a short pause on the other end before a simple "Three-One ACK."

Before Cloud even had a moment to think about what he had just done, his headset burst into life.

"BREAK BREAK BREAK, all callsigns this is Six-One-Alpha, we have eyes on several dismounts west of the village advancing down on Three-Niners position. Counting...8...no 13 dismounts with weapons...correction, platoon minus coming over the hill...engaging now." The crack of a bullet whizzed overhead, causing many of the troops to duck down. Cloud looked to his left, where the recce callsign had identified a force heading directly towards them. A large group of enemy soldiers were barreling down the hill directly towards them, one of them falling as a sniper bullet slammed into him.

"What did he say?" The OC quickly asked, having missed the last transmission.

"Contact left!" Cloud yelled out while pointing at the mass of people charging towards him. Instantly, weapons platoon looked up to see dozens of the armour clad, sword wielding warriors coming at them. The machine gunners swung their heavy weapons and began unloading belt after belt into the charging mass. Cloud ducked down and hugged the ground as all around him burst into life with gunfire. Having been the closest person to the enemy, his comrades were firing over top of him the entire time, not giving Cloud much of a choice but to become as flat as possible. Within seconds it was all over, and the OC began shouting ceasefire. Picking himself up and checking to make sure he was uninjured, Cloud looked up at the once terrifying hill in front of him, now full of scattered bodies, some motionless, some writhing. Turning around, he saw both Pete and Claire with their weapons raised, wide eyed, and steam rising from the hot barrels.

"Get up there and clear them out!" The OC yelled over his shoulder to nobody in particular before he grabbed at the radio handset and began barking into it. Claire began moving with several of her section mates towards the littered hillside. It was a truly awful sight, the Wutai warriors never stood a chance, the 50 of them that came over the hill now all lay dead or dying, never having come close to the Shinra position. Claire moved cautiously up the hill, training her rifle on the bodies as she neared them, making sure none were still grasping their swords or spears.

"What the fuck were they thinking?" Pete asked mockingly as he walked among the bodies. A shot rang out as one of the troopers shot a wounded man, causing everyone to jump.

"What are you doing!?" One of the men yelled at the executioner, disgusted he was killing wounded.

"Fuck them, look what they did to K company, we can either shoot them now or let them slowly die in the rain. I don't give a fuck either way." He said without a care. The group stood around, looking utterly conflicted with their situation. Claire looked down at a wounded man who was breathing but didn't appear to be conscious, no need to kill him she thought as the man bled out.

"Mop up!" From behind them came a shout from their platoon commander as he trudged up the hill with the rest of the platoon. "Kill them, search them then get back to your positions..stop fucking around." Pete instantly turned to the wounded man that was laying on the ground in front of him and fired a round into the man's brain. Claire jumped, noticeably taken aback by Pete's instant coldblooded demeanor. Before she had a moment to protest, shots rang out all around her as the rest of the wounded were swiftly and viciously dealt with. She stared down at the dying human being that lay at her feet, feeling weak as she watched the man struggle to breathe. Blood poured from his breastplate and pooled on the rocky ground, making Claire feel even more lightheaded. She had never been close to death her whole life, and now that it was right in front of her, possibly even caused by her, she seemed completely indifferent to it. There was no sadness, no remorse or regret. There was some queasiness from the bloodshed, but as she stared into the empty eyes of the dying man, she felt very little. She was still high on adrenaline and couldn't feel her hands shaking, even as she raised her weapon and lazily aimed it at the mans head. Her finger moved from the trigger guard to the trigger, and her thumb flicked the safety to single shot. Right before she pulled the trigger she heard the young goofy voice that belonged to Cloud, faintly discussing something with the OC behind her. That small distraction caused her to look up, smirk slightly as she thought of his awkwardness. In that moment, a passing trooper fired a round into her man, making her blink in surprise. She looked down at the newly destroyed face, which had ceased breathing. Turning away from the gruesome mess, she walked down towards their former position alone, in need of time to process what had just transpired.

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><p><strong> Ill probably update summer 2017(?). (Did this chapter in one night btw, I forgot most of the story too, hopefully it syncs up. Haven't written anything in forever, but whatever, lay your hate on me).<strong>


	13. The Bloodied Hills Of Wutai

_**Chapter 13: The Bloodied Hills Of Wutai**_

The wind howled outside as heavy rain pelted the old wooden roof. It was freezing and Claire was wondering when the rain would turn to snow, considering the temperature had dropped since it got dark. She shivered and pulled her soaking wet ranger blanket tighter as she glanced around at the huddled troopers trying to get a few hours of sleep in the Wutai huts. The OC had decided not to burn the village down, and instead chose to use the village as a base of operations for the coming days. The remainder of A company had been called up from the roadblock, and both companies slept uneasily for the night. Come the morning, they would begin phase two of the operation: Clearing the surrounding villages which scattered the countryside. There were 5 villages that were reachable by foot that they would be capturing in the coming days. While A and C company slogged on towards these objectives, Y company was tasked with clearing the road blocks and pushing out supplies to them. The spontaneous attack from the Wutai warriors earlier in the day served as a reminder that the troops were always being watched, and that there was definitely a real threat out there.

A loud crack sounded from outside the hut, waking Claire from her fragile sleep. She opened her eyes as several more cracks and bangs reached her ears.

"That's gunfire..." One of the sergeants said. It was distinct now as a machine gun opened up. "Everyone up! Stand to!" The sergeant yelled as he grabbed his gear. The large hut exploded with activity as the weapons platoon raced to get out the door into the darkness. The firing increased as the troopers ran through the village towards the sound of the firing and also the sentry positions. It was pitch black and the rain came down in droves, disorientating everyone. Claire dropped her night vision over her eyes, but shook her head in dismay as the poor quality tech did little to aid her. More troopers from the rest of the companies ran out of their huts towards the fire, anxious to defend their new home. As Claire and her platoon reached the outskirts of the town and the first position, they saw that one of the sentry positions had been overrun with a dozen or so enemy warriors and the second position which was 50 meters to the right, was in danger of being overrun as well, its 5 occupants firing madly at the attacking enemy. Claire's platoon dropped onto their stomachs and began firing at the Wutaians. In the darkness it was hard to make out the enemy soldiers as they turned tail and ran. After 5 minutes of overwhelming fire, the troopers ceased fire, as the Wutaians had fled.

After mopping up, it was discovered that 4 enemy warriors had been killed during the firefight and one Shinra trooper had been decapitated when the Wutaians snuck up on them in the darkness. The other 4 troopers that had been in the sentry position with the KIA were missing, but were presumed to have been snatched up by the Wutai raiding party. This unnerved the rest of the troopers, and everyone was ordered to stay up at 100% watch until first light.

...

"..." Cloud watched as the UMS moved the body of the dead trooper into one of the huts. He was already desensitized to death, having witnessed the massacre of 50 people the day before, but this felt different, it was one of their own and he had the feeling like this dead trooper wouldn't be the last. "I didn't think we would have lost someone so soon..."

"Yeah...and I hate to even think about what happened to those 4 guys that got taken..." Claire replied as both of them stared blankly at the headless body before it disappeared into the hut. "I doubt we'll ever see them again."

"Who knows, we may find them in the next village we capture." Cloud suggested.

"How far away is the next village again...9km?" She asked, thinking of the their trek ahead.

"Around 9km, we should be there about 1800. And if we get attacked, hopefully its like yesterday. Out in the open, lots of warning, and done in seconds." Claire thought back to the quick battle and how it almost didn't feel real to be shooting at people.

"Did you kill anyone yesterday?" She asked abruptly with a frown.

"Oh...uh, no I never even fired my rifle." Cloud responded a little surprised look, "Did...did you?"

"I don't know, there were a lot of people firing, it was kinda hard to tell."She said honestly.

"I know we killed all the wounded...you didn't...uh..you didn't do that, did you?" He asked, turning his head to look at her. Claire shook her head, she would have killed a man if she hadn't heard Cloud's voice, it was an odd moment. "That's good, kinda messed up how they ordered that..."

"Yeah, well, I gotta get back to my guys. Good luck today, I'll probably see you on the march." She wished as she quickly turned and left, leaving Cloud standing by himself.

The task force departed from the village; which had been renamed Iron village, taking on its objective name, for its next objective: Steel village. The weather had improved and the raining had finally let up, although distant thunder still sounded. The troopers marched on the main road, taking advantage of the good weather in order to make some good distance. It wasn't long before they had caught up with their recce callsign and had been ordered to stop for a short rest to allow the recce to push out.

Cloud sat down on the edge of the road, resting his heavy rucksack on the dirt, alleviating his throbbing shoulders. They still had about 4km to march until the village, and the OC had yet to make up his mind if he wanted to push to the next village after that, a decision that most were dreading. 30 minutes had past and the task force was still sitting on the side of the road, joking, smoking and resting their aching muscles, until Cloud's radio started to crackle, and he pressed his ear closer to the earpiece.

"Three-Niner, this is Six-One-Alpha, contact wait out!" The recce trooper on the other end yelled into the radio.

"Recce's coming under contact!" Cloud shouted aloud for everyone to hear as the OC ran over.

"Six-One-Alpha, 100 plus enemy dismounts...firing at us with bow and arrows...we're currently attempting to break contact!" The trooper said out of breath and with a touch of desperation.

"Get ready, we're moving!" The OC shouted to his men, "Six-One-Alpha is under contact from 100 plus enemy soldiers, we're going after them." The task force was on its feet almost immediately and marching at a fast pace down the road, eager to assist their comrades under fire. "Drop your rucks! Double time!"

The task force shed their heavy packs and their somewhat organized marching formation turned into a jumbled mess of men running. Cloud found himself trailing behind the main group, as he was not able to drop his ruck because his radio and batteries were in it. After 10 minutes of jogging down the road, the troopers met up with the recce team, who was just as much out of breath as they were.

"They're right over that ridge!" One of the recce men shouted as he pointed to a hill 100 meters behind himself, "They're hauling ass, probably a 100 of them!"

"Take up defensive positions!" The OC yelled to his two companies, "We'll wait for them to come over the hill and cut them down." The nearly 200 man strong task force immediately took up positions on either side of the road, covering the entire hill. If this was going to be a conventional fight, where both sides had equal capabilities, the Guardsmen were setting themselves up to be slaughtered, being clumped closely together in an open field, but this was a fight against enemy who fought with swords. They didn't have to wait long, as within moments, Wutaians were pouring over the top of the hill. The first few were caught by surprise and were mown down by the overwhelming fire directed at them. Those that weren't killed in the initial bursts quickly retreated to the safety of the other side of the hill.

"Sir! Are we going after them!?" One of the OC's lieutenants asked as the firing ceased. Major Wells frowned as he quickly thought.

"Yes...2nd and 3rd platoon...go after them."

"Let's go 2nd!" The platoon commander yelled to his men as he took the charge up the hill. 3rd platoon followed quickly behind. As the lieutenant leading the charge ran past the bodies of the Wutaians, he fired a bullet into each one. Reaching the top of the hill, just a few seconds ahead of his men, the officer stopped immediately in his tracks when he was exposed to what was on the other side. Hundreds of Wutai warriors in battle formation stood at the bottom of the hill looking up at him.

"...shit." He whispered quietly to himself as he looked at the large force before him. During the next few seconds, as the two platoons ran over the top of the hill, a massive volley of arrows was loosed at them from below. The remainder of the companies that had not gone up the hill could only watch in horror as their comrades were decimated by meter long arrows. Of the 60 troopers that charged over the hill, only 20 had managed to remained unscathed after the first volley. The rest fell to the ground with viciously long arrows sticking out of them. The arrows that missed their targets flew over the hill directly at the other troopers at the bottom.

"Shit, get down!" One of the NCOs screamed as the arrows tore through the sky towards them. Cloud dove for the small amount of cover that the ditch on the side of the road provided as he heard a few screams of pain. Gunfire erupted from on top of the hill as the survivors of 2nd and 3rd platoon desperately tried to defend themselves.

''Fall back!" The OC yelled up to the men on the hill but it was to no avail, his voice was drowned out by the gunfire and screams of wounded. The next volley finished off the troopers on the hill, with the remaining arrows seeking more victims at the bottom. Several more men were hit, bringing the wounded to almost a dozen on the road. Confusion and slight panic had hit the task force, as they had no enemy to shoot at but they themselves were being hit, not to mention they had lost 60 men in less then a minute. Many of the 60 on the hill were merely wounded and could be seen trying to crawl back towards the road. Another volley had been loosed and the dangerous arrows cut through the exposed men on the road, causing many more casualties.

"Sir we can't stay here, we need to fall back!" The sergeant major yelled at the OC. The OC was having a hard time excepting that his men were being easily defeated by bows and arrows, he just needed to get the Wutai warriors in his sights so he could turn the tide.

"Negative, I'm not going to abandon 2nd and 3rd platoon...get A company to push up to that hill behind us, see if they can get eyes on the enemy. If they can, start pouring as much fire on them as possible." He ordered to his platoon commanders, "The rest of C company will stay here and get low against the road, if they decide to come over that hill in force we can still cut them down from here. If these arrows stop we'll retrieve what we can of 2nd and 3rd platoon. Now hurry, these arrows are fucking effective!"

A company quickly assembled and charged up the hill to their rear, leaving C company to deal with the mounting casualties on the road.

Claire pulled her field dressing out of her webbing and pressed it against the area around the arrow that was sticking out of her comrades shoulder. She didn't know whether to break the arrow or leave it in as it was a meter long and tearing up his shoulder merely because of the weight of the thing. She looked around at the 20 or so wounded frantically being dealt with by all available hands. She could hardly believe the last 10 minutes. C companies 2nd and 3rd platoon had been wiped out and her own weapons platoon was taking casualties. This was all a bad nightmare, and the arrows weren't letting up.

Cloud hugged the ground next to the OC. He was terrified. Watching people getting impaled by arrows was petrifying. They hit at such an angle and with such force that they stuck in the ground with the person still attached, leaving them hanging there, completely helpless. His radio was buzzing nonstop, but he was having a hard time paying any attention to it. The OC was turned around looking up at A company as they scaled the hill, hoping they could see the enemy.

"Tell them to send a sitrep." He ordered Cloud.

"One-niner, Niner send sitrep" Cloud yelled over the noise into his headset.

"One-niner, we're at the peak now, no joy on eyes on, the hill isn't high enough." The response came over the radio.

"The hill isn't high enough sir, they can't see the Wutaians." Cloud informed his officer. The man swore and told Cloud to order A company back. As Cloud did, he looked back at the slaughtered mess of men that littered the hill to his front. It was heartbreaking to watch many of the wounded survivors slowly crawling and pulling themselves back. The OC was growing extremely agitated as his task force crumbled around him and the situation deteriorated. The volleys of arrows weren't stopping, and staying on the road was doing nothing but producing more casualties, they needed desperately to fall

back but he wasn't going to leave behind so many wounded.

"Captain Mackenzie!" Major Wells shouted to the weapons platoon commander. The man quickly ran over. "We need to fall back, but first I need you to take your platoon up the hill and retrieve the wounded. Don't expose yourselves, grab them and get out of there."

"Yes sir!" Mackenzie turned to the garbled troopers running about on the road, "Weapons platoon! Follow me, we're getting the wounded off that hill!" He shouted over the noise as he pointed to 2nd and 3rd platoon. The section commanders rallied their troops up and began the charge up the hill. Claire felt a little more safe as she ran, most of the arrows sailed well above her head now instead of directly at her. Her and Pete ran side by side as Pete pointed towards a wounded man he said they should grab first. Claire agreed and they both headed for the writhing man. They stopped at him, grimacing at his ghastly chest wound before kneeling down to provide assistance. The rest of the platoon followed suit and began to help retrieve the injured troopers.

There were several loud distinct gunshot cracks that sounded as bullets flew around them. Claire quickly looked down to see her comrades shooting up at her. At first she was utterly confused until she heard Pete let out a loud warning.

"Top of the hill, look out!" He warned as everyone looked up to see a wall of armour clad warriors charging at them. The Wutaians were less then 20 meters away, slashing at the wounded guardsmen as they past them. Claire raised her rifle and fired into the mass of enemy, watching one fall as her bullet slammed into him. The outnumbered troopers desperately tried to defend their precarious position but the Wutaians were upon them. Down on the road, the task force was unable to continue firing as the enemy had mingled with their own troops, and they risked friendly fire.

Claire was pulling her trigger as fast as she could, dropping several warriors that charged her, but their numbers were overwhelming. The Wutaians were masters of close quarter combat, and slashed through the weapons platoon ranks with ease, killing several of them with deadly sword strokes. "Pete!" Claire yelled as one of the Wutaians swung at him, striking him on the helmet and sending him flying into the ground. Fearing Pete dead and thinking herself next, Claire charged the enemy soldier out of anger and absolute terror. She pulled her trigger, even though she was well aware that her magazine was empty. When her weapon didn't fire, she butt-stroked the man in the head, which did little to affect him. He raised his sword, about to bring it down upon her but she quickly jabbed her rifle at his face, her barrel stabbing him in eye socket and crushing a portion of his face, blood spurting all over her. Claire was surprised at the amount of damage she managed to do with her empty weapon and so was the Wutaian as he collapsed to the ground.

The skirmish was slowly starting to turn in the favour of the guardsmen, but they were still losing more men every second. "Grab the wounded!" One of the sergeants yelled, "Let's get the fuck out of here!" Claire quickly changed her magazine, fired a long burst into a Wutaian who was impaling one of her comrades before she looked for Pete. He was lying face down upon the wounded man they had initially tried to assist, who was now unresponsive.

"Pete!" She yelled running over. She shook him before turning him over. He mumbled momentarily before she smacked him across the face. He came to and looked up at Claire frightened. "You okay? Come on, we need to get out of here!" She said looking around with wide eyes.

"Shit, my head." He complained as he retrieved his helmet, now sporting a large dent from where the sword struck it.

"Help me with this guy." Claire said as she began to drag the wounded man. Pete grabbed the mans sleeve and begun pulling. All around them, the survivors finished off the remaining Wutai warriors and grabbed what wounded they could, although most of the wounded had been killed off in the ensuing battle. A platoon from A company ran up to them to help with the injured, as the remainder of the task force was now preparing to fall back.

The shattered task force began to slowly retreat back down the road towards Iron village. It was very slow moving carrying the dozens of wounded, which kept the pace to a crawl. As Claire walked down the road, straining under the weight of the man her and Pete were carrying, she glanced back at the road and hill one last time. Blue uniformed bodies littered the hill, tangled with several armoured warriors. People she once knew lay dead or bleeding to death up there, left behind to certain death.

...

It was dark by the time the task force returned to Iron village, having spent almost 5 hours marching back. Many of the injured had died on the way back, unable to survive without more then basic first AID. A casualty collection point had been set up which turned into a mini aid station, the task force's 12 medics being kept very busy with the needy wounded. The operation had been more then a complete failure. 52 men from C company's 2nd and 3rd platoon had been either killed and or left behind. Only 8 had been rescued by weapons company who also suffered 5 dead and 6 wounded in the rescue mission. There were also an additional 3 killed on the road and 25 wounded. Bringing the final total to 60 killed and 39 wounded. Claire had been tasked with helping the medics, a grisly business which she was anxious to be done with so she could take a minute to decompress.

Once the wounded had all been attended to and Claire was finally relieved of her duties, it was close to midnight. She stepped out of the stuffy aid station and took a seat up against one of its dark walls. She breathed deep as she leaned her head back and looked up at the frigid starry sky. A man sitting next to her motioned towards her which caught her attention. She looked down to see his outstretched hand offering a cigarette. She took it without a thought, put it in her mouth and leaned over as the stranger lit it for her. She thanked him and puffed on the smoke. Last time she smoked she was sitting in a trench during battleschool, which seemed an entire lifetime ago. Never would she have imagined that one day she'd be far off in Wutai watching her friends being butchered in front of her eyes. Moral within the guardsmen was especially low. None expected to be defeated in such a manner against foes who had nowhere near the capabilities they possessed. If things kept up this way, they would be destroyed within the week. It was now apparent as to why the first task force had been obliterated. The Wutai were fighting on their own turf and knew better then anyone how to defeat a far better equipped enemy. Claire was hoping that her commanders would recognize that this operation would end up costing them much more then they would ever gain but she was beginning to realize by the time this was all over, very few of them would be going home.

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><p><em><strong>So I'm assuming all of my initial readers are now gone. That's what happens when you take a 2 year break I guess. I'll try to do a chapter once a month at a minimum. I feel bad for not finishing this story, very inconsiderate of me to take such a long break. Stick around though, things get baaad for the poor guardsmen.<strong>_


	14. Bogged Down

_**Chapter 14: Bogged Down**_

Cloud blinked in surprise when he heard the familiar beeps coming from his headset, indicating that his radio batteries had only a few hours of life left. He had changed them less then 12 hours earlier, which should have gave him at least 2 days worth of battery life.

"Three-Niner, 25% through the objective now, out!" His radio buzzed. The tall OC stood crouched next to Cloud, as the two of them observed the battle taking place in front of them. In the early morning air, sound traveled with ease, allowing them to hear every gunshot. A and C company were in the process of assaulting Steel village, which to there surprise was well defended. Even more to their surprise was that the Wutaians had managed to procure firearms, likely from those that had been abandoned the week before by the Shinra guardsmen during their first failed approach to the village. The defenders of the village were pouring indiscriminate fire from their positions in the village onto the attackers as they crossed an open field.

Major Wells raised his binoculars and watched as A company became pinned down from fierce rifle fire as they approached the first few buildings. He grunted in frustration and shifted his gaze to C company, who had penetrated only far enough into the village to secure one hut, and were engaged in a firefight in the streets. Even more worrying was Y company's 1st platoon that he had tasked with destroying a counter-attack force spotted before the initial attack. Just west of the village a small force was observed hiding in the rocky outcropping of a hill feature, covered in large jagged boulders. Major Wells had dispatched 1st platoon to destroy this force to prevent a counter-attack but it was appearing that the men were pinned down and taking heavy casualties during their uphill assault.

"Four-Niner, this is Niner.." The officer said into the handset as he snatched it off Cloud's bag. He paused a moment while he composed himself, "..from my position I can see your assault and it appears to have turned into a complete jug-fuck, send sitrep." He swore over the net, having exhausted his patience.

"Four-Niner!" A voice responded, loud and out of breath, gunfire easily heard in the background. "We've been pinned down and caught in a killzone. We've taken heavy casualties and are in danger of being overrun!"

"For fuck sakes!" The OC yelled angrily, furious that his attack was falling apart. He grabbed the headset again once he'd taken a moment to calm down. "One-niner, this is niner, are you able to peel off a platoon to assist callsign 4 over?" He asked the A company OC.

"...One niner, negative, we're involved in a pretty good fight ourselves here. Over."

Wells turned red in the face before tossing the handset at Cloud."You're all fucking infantrymen! This is your fucking job!" The OC screamed at the men surrounding him, obviously having lost faith in his task force. "Close with and destroy the fucking enemy! Its in the job description and you're fucking failing me!" He continued swearing and grumbling as he stomped around. Cloud looked at sergeant Hutz, the OC's tech, who looked back with the same expression of 'Oh shit'. After several uncomfortable seconds of insulting his men, Wells stopped and looked around at the battlespace. "Alright...on your feet niner's tac..." He said aloud, referring to his personal party of troops. "Looks like we have to bail out Y company, and show them how you conduct a frontal..." The 15 troops all looked at each other, shocked at what they had just heard. After a few seconds of nobody moving, a very unsure sergeant Hutz stood up.

"...On your feet! You heard the major!" He yelled. Cloud jumped up and stared in the direction of the hill they would be attacking, half a kilometer away. It was a scene of a vicious firefight and hand to hand fighting, none of which Cloud wanted any part of.

The group began their hurried dash across open ground to the hill, all the while Hutz organized them into two assault teams. The entire group comprised of Cloud, the OC, the sergeant major, Hutz, another signaller, a medic, the 2/IC, and eight rifleman. Not enough to mount an assault.

"Fix bayonets." The OC called back to the men following him, his words sending a chill up everyone's spine. Cloud pulled out his bayonet and with shaky hands, clipped the cold steel blade onto the muzzle of his rifle. He quickly uttered a prayer to whatever god was listening that he wouldn't have to use it.

The crack of a bullet alerted everyone that they had been seen as the bullet sped past them and dug itself into the ground, spraying dirt all over Hutz.

"We've been spotted! Pick up the pace!" Major Wells shouted as he began sprinting. Cloud was right behind him, struggling to keep up with his heavy radio. They reached the base of the hill unscathed and began weaving around the massive boulders up to 1st platoon. Upon reaching the shattered positions of their comrades, it became apparent that the situation was dire. What remained of 1st platoon was pinned down behind three boulders and were in the process of being outflanked from the left. They were unable to fall back or advance in any way as the Wutaians had intervening fields of fire on them. There were many bodies strewn about the hillside, both Shinra and Wutaian.

Rather then join 1st platoon in getting shot up in the crossfire, Wells decided to push around to the right where the Wutaian position was the least defended. He led his men up the hill, maneuvering and navigating around the large boulders and rocky terrain. The enemy was aware of their movement but Wells managed to stay relatively hidden during the advance. 20 meters away from a Wutaian machine gun position, the group was forced to halt under heavy fire.

"Alright listen up!" Wells screamed over the deafening noise. "Team 1, lay down fire on those gun positions, team 2...we're going to find a way up there." He ordered on the fly as the men crouched behind the rocks for cover. "Wait for my command...Strife...Hutz.." He said turning to the two of them. "Get a grenade ready." Cloud reached into his webbing and pulled out the round explosive and looked back at his officer. "Alright get ready...covering fire!" He yelled at team 1. The 8 men exposed themselves to the withering fire and began returning it. "Now!" Wells yelled at Cloud. He and Hutz pulled the pin of their grenades and tossed them as hard as they could.

"Frag out!" They yelled out in unison.

"Heads down!" Wells screamed as he ducked. The grenades exploded with a thunderous roar, filling the air with smoke and dust. "Lets go!" Wells jumped up and vaulted over the large rock he was hiding behind and charged up the hill into the smoke. Cloud dropped his radio bag as he ran after the man, not wanting to die with the cursed bag on his back. It was inspiring to watch his leader do just that..lead, Cloud thought to himself before turning back to the fact that he was charging a machine gun. Major Wells was the first at the enemy position and he dispatched the crew with a long burst from his rifle. "Come on! Lets keep going!" He called to his men, as the team began bounding. One by one they cleared out the Wutaian murder holes, sometimes resorting to using their bayonets. Cloud's heart was pounding as he followed closely behind Hutz. It was almost unbelievable that they had managed this assault without any casualties yet. Running past several dead enemy, Cloud took note that they all carried Shinra rifles, without a doubt taken from his dead comrades.

"High right!" Hutz called out an enemy contact as the team moved towards the last murder hole. At least a dozen spear wielding Wutaians barreled down upon them from the top of the hill. The Wutaians were running down a narrow path, which funneled directly at the guardsmen. Hutz fire two rounds at the group before his weapon clicked empty. He swore and quickly began a magazine change while the OC raised his weapon and fired into the rushing enemy. The first few fell to the ground as bullets tore through them, but the ones behind had time to throw their spears. Cloud was unable to react in time and one of the spears struck him in the gut. He doubled over at the force of the spear knocked him down. He felt no pain, only terror as the screaming Wutaians sprinted towards him to finish him off. With one hand holding the spear sticking out of his stomach and one had on his pistol grip, he flipped the fire selector to automatic and leaned back on the trigger. The long burst decimated his target, shredding the mans torso and face. He was merely pushed out of the way by the man behind him who proceeded to lunge at Cloud. He intended to grasp the spear and force it farther into Cloud but the guardsmen tilted the wooden stake out of the Wutaian's way. With his magazine empty, Cloud thrust his rifle at the enemy warrior, the bayonet piercing his chest and wedging itself in his ribs. His rifle was torn from his hands as the man collapsed in shock, his rifle still jammed in his chest. He fell directly next to Cloud and immediately grabbed at the boy, managing to grab a handful of his shirt. His eyes were wide with fury and burning hatred, desperate to kill the invader of his land. Cloud used his free hand to search for anything that could be used as a weapon. His fingers touched a large rock which he quickly grabbed. He raised it high and heard a large snap, realizing he had broke the thin spear. With a loud yell he brought it down on the Wutaian's head, causing a large deep cut. The man appeared only dazed but the second, third, and fourth blows caved the man's skull and he lay twitching. Cloud dropped the bloody rock and looked at his grim work. Gray matter and bits of bloody bone were splattered across the ground. He instantly vomited before yanking his rifle free. Reaching down for a fresh magazine, he noticed that the spear tip had pierce his magazine pouch and had become stuck in one of his magazines. Putting in a new magazine, he looked around the violent scene and shot dead a Wutaian wrestling with Hutz. The narrow trail the Wutaians had charged down was now a bloody mess, and the ground the guardsmen occupied was just as unsightly.

"Thanks Strife..." Hutz thanked out of breath as he picked himself up. Cloud nodded to him as they both looked around to make sure all the Wutaians were dead. "Oh shit..." Hutz swore when he noticed the OC. Cloud jumped up and ran over with Hutz to their commander. He was lying on his back with a spear sticking out of his throat. He was barely conscious and there was a massive pool of blood around him. "Sir!" Hutz leaned down next to the dying man and looked on helplessly, knowing he was too far gone. Cloud frowned as he stood looking down at his OC. The man lay there looking up at the sky struggling to breathe, having excepted his fate. He looked more tired then in pain, probably glad that he would no longer have to worry about his cursed task force.

The firing died down on the hill as the last of the enemy positions was destroyed, but the battle for the village still raged on. Cloud turned his attention to the village and thought of Claire and Pete, hoping them both okay. When he looked back at major Wells, the man had ceased breathing and stared blankly upward. Hutz shook his head and stood up and turned to Cloud, who was covered in blood. "He's gone." Cloud nodded slowly, feeling slightly saddened at his death. The man was arrogant and didn't always treat his men with the most respect, but he was a leader nonetheless and showed he had more courage then most in his final moments. "You alright? Thought I saw you take a spear to the gut there..." Hutz asked as he checked his weapon.

"I'm..I'm fine. I never killed anyone before..." He admitted, trailing off. Hutz gave a slight smile and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You did good." He told the younger man. "Now go grab your radio. Let's get off this fucking hill."

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><p><strong>Thanks everyone for reading, drop a review if you have the time. Still lots to come<strong>


	15. Death in the Water

_**Things get a little ultra-violent. You've been warned.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 15: Death In The Water<strong>_

The men weren't begging, weren't crying or pleading. They remained motionless with their chins up and a steely look of acceptance as they sat on their knees. It was raining again and everyone was soaking wet, Cloud felt numb to everything from his extremities to his conscience. There would have been a time when he was conflicted and angry but those times had passed. Now he looked on with indifference as one of his comrades walked to each Wutaian prisoner on his knees and shot them in the back of the head. The executions were over in seconds and the group of guardsmen watching walked away wordless.

"Platoon commanders! Over here..." The sergeant major called for the task force's leadership. The new OC was holding orders in one of the huts, to discuss the current situation. Cloud's presence wasn't required at the meeting but he went to the hut and sat outside of it anyway, anxious to hear what they would be doing next. As the leadership filed into the hut, he dropped his heavy pack and sat next to the door before pulling out a crushed pack of cigarettes and lighting one. He leaned his head so he could hear the conversation going on inside the hut.

"Alright...I'll be taking over command of the task force.." Captain Locke began as he removed his helmet and looked around the circle of men. "The sergeant major and I finished the tally of the casualties we took during this assault..." He pulled out a small wet piece of paper and looked down at it. "...C company lost 9 dead, 4 wounded. A company lost 3 dead and 7 wounded. Y company had 20 killed and 5 wounded. So 32 dead and 16 wounded." He finished before stuffing the paper back in his pocket. "Which means that our total losses so far have been 97 killed and 55 wounded, plus 10 non-combat injuries." There was some uneasy murmuring among the officers as they heard the numbers. "Its not good fellas, we've got two more towns to take and we've stretched our supply lines already." Cloud nodded in agreement, noting how they were down to one meal a day because Y company's trucks could only make so many trips a day and there were only so many supplies at the dock. The losses were taking a toll on the battered men and women, C company having been reduced to two under-strength platoons. "From what we learned from the captured Wutaians, is that the next town..Silver village...is lightly defended because most of their forces have fallen back to Gold village in order to protect it because all the villagers from all these towns we've taken have fled there."

"How many enemy soldiers are we looking at?" One of the officers asked.

"No idea how many are in Silver village, they only said lightly defended. However, they said that they've taken huge losses and they have no other forces outside of Gold village, which is probably heavily defended in order to protect those civilians." The OC informed. "Upwards of one hundred Wutaian soldiers plus you can bet that the civilians aint going to be too friendly. The only good news is that I doubt they'll be armed like they were today, all the guns they used were from what they looted off our dead a couple weeks back. So for the next two days we'll stay here, rest and refit before moving onto Silver. Hopefully this fucking rain lets up sometime..."

...

They're dead sir..." Cloud said, referring to the batteries in his radio.

"Shit...that was the last of them wasn't it?" Captain Locke asked with a frown. Cloud nodded as he began taking the radio out of his bag. "Alright, I don't know if Y company is bringing anymore when they resupply us tomorrow. You can fall under sergeant Silva of weapons platoon, they're hurting for guys. If we get more batteries tomorrow you can come back to niners-tac, but until then, you're just another grunt." The OC said turning away. Cloud raised his eyebrows, somewhat in shock. Just like that he was discarded.

After a quickly telling Hutz that he'd been switched to weapons, Cloud left his hut and went in search of weapons platoon. He found them occupying a small hut, cleaning their weapons in silence. He entered the door silently and was met with tired gazes from the occupants.

"Uhh..I'm looking for sergeant Silva.." Cloud said a little awkwardly.

"Right here." A man sitting down raised his hand. "What do you need?"

"I'm from 1st platoon, I just got told to fall under you because niner's tac doesn't need me at the moment." Cloud explained.

"Is that right?" The sergeant asked as he turned back to his weapon. "What's your name?"

"Private Strife."

"Is that Cloud!" A familiar voice called from the corner of the hut. Cloud squinted in the direction of the voice and made out Pete's goofy face, sporting a shit-eating grin.

"Strife eh? Aren't you the OC's sig?" Silva asked.

"Was...I got fired because we ran out of radio batteries..." Cloud snorted.

"Alright well you can go in 1 section, your buddy Crawford is in that section." The older man told him. Cloud turned and walked over to Pete, who was sitting in a dark corner.

"Hey man. Good to see you. Pretty awesome how you're in my section now." Pete greeted as Cloud dropped his gear next to him. It was good to be in the company of a friend for once, Niner's tac was robotic and stale the majority of the time. "We all heard about major Wells, glad you're alright." Cloud nodded as he sat down hard next to his friend. Pete looked dirty, tired, and utterly drained but the boy managed to keep upbeat in his conversation.

"Thanks," Cloud nodded, "Hell of a day..."

"Hell of a month dude." Pete scoffed. "We've done so much fucked up stuff." Cloud frowned at his friend. Pete seemed oddly proud of the fact, Cloud didn't know if it was a coping mechanism or if his friend was starting to lose it. "Did you get to kill anyone yet? "He asked, genuinely interested.

"Yeah." Cloud responded. Pete grinned and gave him a pat on his back.

"Hey you got any smokes? All of mine got soaked." Pete asked him. Cloud pulled out a damp pack and checked it for dry cigarettes.

"Sorry, all of mine are wet." He said with a sigh. "Hey, where's Claire...she's alright, isn't she?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"Yeah, I gotta go replace her on sentry in like two minutes." He said looking at his watch and swearing under his breath. "Time to go stand in the rain for an hour..." Standing up he grabbed his weapon and bid Cloud farewell. Cloud sat alone and looked around the hut at the 20 guardsmen, shivering and chatting quietly. They were a sorry sight. They weren't the same men that left Midgar a month earlier, now they were sort of zombified versions of themselves, performing everything without thought. Cloud hoped he didn't resemble them; unshaven, dirty, and soaking wet with eyes half open.

A few minutes passed and Claire walked though the open door into the dry hut, she moved wordlessly to the back of the shelter where she found Cloud. She gave him a small nod, already aware that he had joined her platoon. Sitting down next to him she removed her dripping helmet and laid back against the wall.

"Hey Cloud," She greeted tiredly. "Pete told me you're with weapons now."

"Sure am."

"Exciting...too bad we're not really a weapons platoon anymore." She told him.

"Oh?" He frowned.

"Nope," Claire began as she reached down and started untying her soaking boots. "We're out of mortar rounds so we're leaving the 60mm's behind when we leave...the 50 cal needs replacement parts and one of the rocket launchers is down. That leaves one rocket launcher with four rounds..." She shook her head. "...barely a weapons platoon."

"Less stuff to carry I guess..." Cloud shrugged.

"Yeah except now they're just going to use us as another rifle platoon...we don't get to hang back anymore." She explained while removing one of her boots.

"Hmm...that does sound kinda worse." Cloud admitted.

"You hear anything on what we're doing next?" She asked as she wrung out her sock.

"We're resting here for a day...then taking the next village." He responded flatly, knowing there was no way to sugarcoat it.

"I guess it was too much to hope that they would say we've gone far enough and should go home." She shook her head. After re-positioning herself, Claire breathed deep and rested her head against the wall.

"How you doing by the way?" Cloud asked after a few moments, "I know we've all been through a lot."

"I'm fine...just wanna go home is all." She said quietly, "Kinda had enough of this goddamn rain." She said through gritted teeth.

"We went through worse on battleschool," Cloud grinned, "I remember it rained for like a week straight during one of the field portions."

"Yeah except there weren't people trying to kill us then."

"I don't know about that...there were a couple instructors who tried to kill us on several occasions." Cloud joked. "Remember what happened to your leg!?"

"No Cloud, I totally forgot about the searing pain and humiliation." She replied sarcastically before giving him a playful shove in the shoulder. They both sat in silence, thinking back to battleschool and the terrible experiences they had there. "Did you ever think we'd end up someplace like this?" Claire asked after a few minutes.

"I did...I just didn't think things would go the way they've been going." Cloud admitted, "I never expected to see so many people get killed."

"I never thought we'd execute prisoners...kinda makes you wonder if we're the bad guys." She contemplated while thinking back to the executions earlier that day.

"...Just trying to stay alive out here." Cloud said, halfheartedly justifying the task forces brutal acts. Claire nodded slightly before putting her boot back on. She reached over to her ruck and pulled out the ranger blanket, which was only slightly damp.

"I'm going to try and catch a few hours of sleep, wake me if we're doing anything." She said as she covered herself in the thin blanket.

"Okay."

"Hey Cloud," She said turning to him, "Good to have you here." Claire gave him a weak smile before shutting her eyes and curling up on the floor.

...

"Am I all fucked up?" The officer asked looking down at his map.

"No sir...this map is wrong." The sergeant major replied looking down at the map with the OC.

"Well that explains how recce got lost." He stood up and shoved the map back into his pants pocket. "I have no idea where this village is, but if I had to make an educated guess, I would say it's off to our northwest."

"I agree."

"Alright, lets move 'em out. Hopefully we can get in range of the village before dark." The OC said as his task force began trudging on in the rain again. They had left the safety of Steel village more then six hours before but were still not very close to their next objective. Thanks to several delays, not including problems with their maps, the task force was hours behind and in danger of having to spend the night without having found Silver village. The plan was to scout out the village, move into position and wait for morning when the assault would begin. They wanted to use the dim light of dusk to surprise their enemy, but that wouldn't be happening if they were still searching for the village come dawn. The rain had continued to pour and the ground turned to a soggy mess, the guardsmen sinking several inches down into mud with every step.

Daylight was fading fast and the OC was desperate to find the village but he was moving blindly across the countryside, the simple dirt path that connected the villages had been washed away in the heavy rainfalls and there were no other markings or signs.

"Hey! Is that one of our guys?" A guardsmen shouted out. Everyone in earshot turned to the commotion to see the man pointing up to the top of a hill a kilometer away. At the very top, slightly crested was a shadowy figure facing them.

"We have no recce out there!" The sergeant major yelled.

"Its a scout!" The OC shouted, "Sharpshooter! I need a sharpshooter!" The officer yelled looking around. A man from the sniper cell dropped his pack and rested his rifle on it before taking aim. The entire task force was watching in anticipation as they were too far away to fire upon the Wutaian. "Shoot that motherfucker!"

"He's gone..." The sniper said in frustration, unable to get a bead on the man.

"Fuck sakes..." Captain Locke swore, "Now they know we're here..." He shook his head. "Any ideas?"

"Maybe we could follow him..." Hutz spoke up, "He could lead us to the village."

"Well...not like I have a better plan." Locke said in frustration "Alright...move them out!"

Cloud rubbed his eyes, the constant rain was blinding at times. He was close enough to hear captain Locke fumble around with the navigation of the task force and he was beginning to miss the old OC, a man who was somewhat competent. As he began walking up the hill that the Wutaian scout was spotted at, he had a creeping fear that hundreds of them lay in wait on the other side and they were walking into another slaughter.

"What do you think Farron?" Pete asked loudly as he trudged up the hill, "Think the village is on the side?" He smirked, knowing the question was ludicrous.

"Hmph..." Claire scoffed, "I could navigate better if I was blind and upside down..." She said referring to their OC. "We're all going to die out here..."

"That's the spirit." Pete laughed.

It was dark by the time the task force reached the top of the tall hill, hindering their vision of the landscape in front of them. After several minutes of scanning the area, it was determined that a large dark area several kilometers to their north was most likely the village, but in the darkness it was impossible to be certain. The guardsmen were ordered to dig in along the top of the ridge, where they would wait until just before first light, at which point they would advance on the village, hopefully under cover of the the low light.

4am brought a welcome change of weather, as the constant downpour that had plagued them for the past week finally ceased along with the blistering wind. An hour later the entire task force was awake and preparing to step off into the unknown.

"It's gunna be a good day...no rain...no wind.." Pete commented in the darkness as weapons platoon spread out into ACK ACK formation. Cloud was to the left of Pete in the formation and Claire was just behind himself. Weapons was to lead the task force down the hill into the low ground during the approach. As the very first amount of light turned everything an extremely dull dark blue, it became apparent that as they descended the hill, the low ground was thick with fog.

Reaching the bottom of the hill, Cloud heard loud splashes of water coming from Pete, who was practically the lead man for the entire task force. He heard the boy swear a few times but he kept on walking. Cloud looked down to see that he was walking into at least knee-high water. His first step into the water was freezing. He was already soaking wet but the water sapped what little warmth his body retained.

"Don't tell me we're walking through a lake..." Claire whispered loudly from behind him.

"..I think its just a marsh...that's really flooded." Cloud responded as he reached down into the water and pulled up a chunk of soggy moss.

"Great..."

The guardsmen moved noisily into the foggy and flooded marsh, the lack of wind making their movements seem even louder. After several minutes, the majority of the task force was in the knee deep marsh, moving steadily forward. Pete looked down at the small compass on his watch, waiting for the needle to point north before he continued onward.

"I can't see a fucking thing..." He whispered back to Cloud. They were no more than 10 feet away from each other but the thick fog nearly obscured them.

"You're going to have to slow down." Cloud told him as he struggled to keep up. "This fog is too thick."

"I have no idea where I'm going.." Pete admitted in frustration.

"Just keep going north..." Cloud said as the other boy stopped and looked at his compass again. "You good?"

"I don't know...I think we should get Silva up here...I don't want to get us lost." Pete said as Cloud joined him.

"Just keep going, as long as we're heading north we'll be fine." He assured his friend.

"Alright..." Pete agreed a little unsure of himself. He started walking again, splashing loudly all the while. Cloud turned his head around to see Claire slogging towards him.

"I'm so cold..." She shivered, her face showing obvious pain.

"Me too." Cloud empathized. He continued sloshing through the water, making sure to keep the shadowy figure of Pete in his view.

After what seemed like several kilometers, Pete raised his hand, indicating a halt. Cloud mimicked the sign and went down on one knee.

"What is it?" He whispered ahead. Pete immediately cocked his head sideways and shushed him before tapping his own ear, indicating for Cloud to listen. He passed the sign back to Claire before turning his head to listen. There was a faint sound of splashing water coming from somewhere to their front, but the fog was too thick to be sure. Pete slowly turned to face Cloud, the alarm showing in his expression. He quickly gave the sign for enemy contact, which Cloud passed down the line. Pete then very slowly began to wade back towards Cloud, making sure not to cause too much noise. When he reached his friend, he was already in the midst of attaching his bayonet to his rifle.

"Shit." He whispered in a scared voice. The faint splashing was growing steadily louder, and was coming from more then one place. "This fucking fog..." Pete looked back to Claire who was as wide eyed as he. He raised his arms in an extended line sign and gave the hurry up signal. Claire passed it down and then quickly and quietly hurried up to beside her two friends. "Get ready you guys...extended line." Pete ordered, wanting to make sure they were as spread out as possible before the battle began. More and more troopers made their way towards them and joined them on their defensive line. Cloud looked around in the fog, there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to take cover behind, all they could do was sit in the water and wait.

The anticipation of battle caused more anxiety then being involved in one Cloud realized as his shaky hands clipped his bayonet onto his rifle muzzle. There were still flecks of dried orange blood on the blade from the last time he used the brutal instrument. More and more guardsmen piled around them, adding to the noise they were creating.

"Shut the fuck up!" Pete whispered coarsely as a trooper splashed loudly about. The footsteps and splashing to their front ceased abruptly and the guardsmen held their breath in terror, fearing that they had been heard. It was excruciatingly quiet as everyone listened for any sort of noise but only heard their hearts pounding. Cloud held his rifle in his shoulder, looking just over top of the sights as he scanned the area in front. If he was going to spot anyone, they would be less than 20 feet away before he was able to see them. After what seemed like an eternity, the splashing to their front resumed, coming ever closer.

Cloud's finger flicked the fire selector to automatic before resting on the trigger. The adrenaline surging through his veins warmed his chilled body, giving feeling to his previously numb extremities. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Claire taking extra magazines out of her pouches and holding them next to her weapon's handguard, in anticipation of the immense amount of firing about to take place.

A single shot rang out somewhere down the line from a very nervous young trooper, scaring Cloud so much that he accidentally let off a short burst. Everyone began scanning to their fronts wildly, hoping to see enemy fighters.

"...Where are they?" Pete asked aloud, as he scanned furiously.

"Fuck it...open fire!" A master corporal, the highest rank on the line shouted. He began shooting blindly into the fog and the rest of the troopers followed suit. The Wutaians couldn't be much further then 50 meters away, at least a few of them had to have been hit in the volley. After several seconds of furious shooting, the guardsmen ceased firing and listened while they quickly reloaded. There was soft moaning and some splashing but a deep chill went up their spines when they heard the unmistakable sound of a Wutaian war horn being blasted. It was loud and echoed easily throughout the foggy marsh, followed quickly with yelling and battle cries.

"..here they come..." Claire whispered, mostly to herself. The troopers all gripped their weapons tightly and aimed down the sights, waiting for the first sign of enemy fighters. The splashing and roaring was deafening loud now, contact between the two forces imminent.

Dark armour clad warriors broke through the misty whiteness, charging shoulder to shoulder towards the guardsmen, their numbers staggeringly high. Firing erupted from the defensive line, cutting down the lead Wutaians who were pushed out of the way and stepped on by their brethren. The wave seemed endless and Cloud didn't even have to aim, just point and shoot into them. Long arrows streaked by the troopers, some digging themselves into unfortunate individuals, having been shot by charging Wutaians. The two sides clashed and a brutal hand to hand battle commenced as the guardsmen fought desperately to defend their precarious position from the Wutaian onslaught. A steady stream of troopers from the rear reinforced their comrades, all the while wave after wave of Wutaians piled into the battle.

With her weapon empty and not enough time to reload, Claire found herself using her rifle more as a club then anything. Moving fast in the knee deep water was difficult and many from either side found themselves stumbling and tripping. As a group of enemy fighters piled in on one of her comrades, butchering him while he fruitlessly tried fending them off, Claire charged the group of three in anger, leaping into the air and crashing into two of them. They all fell into the water, Claire being the first to recover and thrusting her bayonet into the arm of one of them. She parried another one's sword slash and buttstroked him in the jaw, sending his menacing battle mask flying off his head. The two locked eyes for half a second before she brought her bayonet down and slashed him in the face, splitting his face in two. The 3rd Wutaian slashed at her while she busy with the other two, catching her in the lower back and cutting up to her shoulder blade. She yelped in pain before instinctively swinging her weapon around wildly with one hand. The muzzle managed to hit the enemy in the neck, stunning him momentarily. The pink-haired guardsmen went to thrust at her attacker but he grabbed her rifle with his hand and wrestled it from her grip. Throwing it to the side, he slashed at her again, catching her in the hip while she attempted to leap out of the way. The blade cut into the thin skin and bounced off the hard hip bone. Claire yelped in pain again and collapsed into the frigid water. The Wutaian was instantly upon her and stabbing at her. She managed to catch the blade with her gloved hands and slow it slightly. It still punctured her webbing and empty magazine pouch, the cold blade piercing her skin as she tried desperately to stop him from pressing it further. Just as the Wutaian pressed his entire body weight into the sword and Claire felt the blade tip slice into her further, a rifle with a bayonet was thrust into the leg of her would-be killer. He yelled in pain, ceasing in his attack and turning to deal with the threat. It was Pete who stabbed him in the leg and the boy was in the process of pulling his weapon out when he was slashed in the side by another Wutaian. He dropped down while spinning around to counter the new threat, catching a follow on slash to the helmet. He shook it off and caught the sword hilt of the Wutaian attacking him before wrestling with the man. Claire pulled out the sword that was protruding out of the left side of her stomach, feeling the hot blood pour out of the wound while she did. She turned her attention to her attacker who was dealing with his own wounds. Claire shakily got to her feet and quickly and mercilessly stabbed the man in the stomach.

"Mother fucker!" She screamed at him as his face twisted in agonizing pain. She pulled the sword out and slashed at his head, taking off a neat slice of it, exposing his brain. After taking a moment to watch him die, she turned her attention to the rest of the ongoing battle. Pete was in the midst of being beaten to death by a Wutaian wearing steel gauntlets, his face bloody and broken.

"Pete!" She called out in desperation. As she took her first step towards him to provide assistance, she found her legs buckling and failing under her wounds. She could only watch helplessly as Pete was beaten on his feet before being tossed to the ground and then held underwater. Summoning every ounce of inner strength she possessed, she stood up and charged the man, not wanting to watch her friend die. The Wutaian was on his hands and knees, holding Pete completely under the water. He presented quite an inviting target with his neck sticking straight out. Claire brought down the sword she was holding on his neck without delay, decapitating him and sending blood pouring into the water. She pushed the body out of the way before falling to her knees and grabbing Pete. She pulled him out of the water, his battered and swollen face coughing and sputtering the entire time. "You alright?!" She asked quickly. He only managed to nod in-between violent coughs. Claire looked around to see that their situation was deteriorating. They were killing hordes of the enemy but they were constant and there seemed to be no end in sight. The guardsmen were slowly being worn down, there just weren't enough of them.

Cloud was beginning to feel something he had never felt before, something that could only be described as a near euphoric high. The battle was going great for him so far. He found that the Wutaians were slow and cumbersome in their heavy armour, and he easily able to parry their blows and deliver his own strikes with deadly precision. It seemed fun at times, defeating his enemies.

An enemy fighter charged him, thrusting his short spear at Cloud who easily parried the strike before thrusting home his own attack into the man's throat. "Ha!" Cloud smirked as he kicked the dying warrior off of his rifle, "Are you even trying anymore..?" He laughed as he added another body to the several lying around him. He stopped smiling when he took a moment to look around the marsh and see his comrades floating hacked up in the now blood red water. The battle was anything but over, as more and more enemy piled into the fight. The left side of the line, where Pete and Claire were, was caving under the pressure, barely able to hold on. Cloud slogged his way over to them, loading his last magazine into his rifle along the way. He shot dead five enemy that were busy fighting it out with several of his comrades, who instantly thanked him. He found Claire sitting up to her chest in the bloody water, clutching a Wutaian katana in one hand and Pete's arm in the other while he crouched next to her, his face dripping blood.

"Oh shit, you guys alright?" A concerned Cloud asked quickly as he knelt next to the terrified Claire.

"For now..." Pete answered as he wiped his face with his hand. Cloud looked around to see a rifle sticking up out of the water which he grabbed. He cocked the weapon a few times, chambered a round and handed it to Claire.

"Here," He said as she looked up at him. "There's still a few rounds left in there." Claire stabbed her sword into the ground and took the rifle. She was in extreme pain and it showed as she was unable to talk. "We need to get out of here..." Cloud spoke up as a group of Wutaians appeared from the fog and headed towards them. Cloud raised his rifle, fired one round at the group before he felt his hand and forearm explode in pain. He looked down to see an arrow sticking out of his knuckle. An arrow fired from a Wutaian caught the edge of his knuckle, buried itself into his skin and ran up into his forearm. It was only a few millimeters deep in the skin but the shaft of the arrow could be seen running from his elbow to his knuckle and protruding out 8 inches. "Oww..fuck!" He collapsed down onto one knee while he evaluated his ghastly wound. Pete and Claire were busy with the Wutaians charging them, so he was left to his own devices. He was unable to bend his wrist as the arrow formed a sort of splint, keeping his wrist locked. He needed the use of his hand immediately otherwise he wouldn't last much longer in the battle. Groaning loudly, Cloud wrapped his hand around the fletching and the nock and began the painful task of pulling the long arrow out of his hand and arm. The arrow was only skin deep, so it came out with relative ease as it had not torn into any muscle or bone. Cloud felt instantly sick as he pulled the long bloody arrow out of his body, nearly vomiting upon completing his battlefield surgery.

"You okay?" Pete asked quickly, turning around to see why Cloud wasn't firing. Cloud held up his bloody arm and shook his head in anger. It stung considerably but the wound was superficial and non-life threatening. He picked up his rifle, shook the water out of the chamber and shot dead the first Wutaian he saw.

"Goddamn that hurt.." He grunted angrily.

"Fall back!" Someone screamed over all of the noise. "Fall back!"

Cloud looked around to see his comrades slowly starting to retreat. Many still fought on but those that weren't engaged were turning tail.

"No!" Pete screamed as he looked around, "Hold your ground! They'll kill the wounded!" Pete continued yelling for his comrades to stay and fight while others went on sounding the retreat.

"I'm not falling back." Cloud told his two friends. Pete nodded at him, they had dozens of wounded and dying troopers around them who would be killed if they abandoned them. "Can you fight Claire?" Cloud asked as he leaned down and looked her in the eye. She sniffed as she fought back tears but raised her chin and nodded. She was slowly bleeding out and being soaking wet for so long was giving her hypothermia. The only thing keeping her from passing out from the cold and blood loss was the adrenaline, which would only last for so much longer. Cloud helped her to her feet and the three of them rushed once more into the fray.

As they cut down or shot dead each Wutaian they encountered, it was becoming apparent that the majority of their comrades had retreated. Only a handful of them stayed behind to defend the large amount of wounded. They made a small perimeter around the biggest group of wounded, all the while yelling into the fog for their comrades to rejoin them. Their desperate calls for assistance caught the attention of the enemy fighters who massed and converged on their position.

"Right side! Right side!" Claire finally spoke when she noticed nearly three dozen Wutaians charging her side of the perimeter. The rest of the survivors hurried to the right side as the large group of Wutaians clashed with them. They were overran within seconds and the Wutaians broke through, finding almost 15 wounded guardsmen floating helplessly in the bloody water. After disposing of the man she was fighting with, Claire turned to see the group of wounded they were trying to protect being heartlessly slaughtered while many of them tried to swim away. Any pain she was feeling was replaced with surging anger as she watched her terrified and defenseless comrades being stabbed and slashed to death. She let loose a battle cry and ran at the several enemy fighters, catching one by surprise as she bayoneted him in the back. Two more advanced on her, stabbing and slashing at her while she parried the blows. She thrust at one who tried to block it but only managed to divert the stab into his groin. He collapsed in pain, holding himself as Claire let go of her rifle for it had become stuck in the man. The third attacker stabbed at her but she batted away the blade with her forearm. He stepped into the thrust and punched her in the stomach, hitting her previous wound. Claire groaned in agony but fought through the pain and swung at the man's head, hitting his facemask off. The oriental man screamed a bloodcurdling cry before headbutting Claire, knocking her helmet off. She stumbled backwards but stayed on her feet. He slashed at her, slicing the strap on her webbing and leaving a shallow cut across her collarbone. Knowing the next attack would finish her off, Claire leapt at him in a last ditch attempt, her hands falling on his armoured collar. She clawed at his face as the two struggled, her fingers tearing open his eye, causing him to stop fighting momentarily. He screamed in pain as Claire looked down to see a small blade tucked neatly in the man's waist belt. She quickly unsheathed it, stepped back and slashed wildly at him, slitting his throat and sending blood shooting all over her. He collapsed into the water and Claire turned her attention to the man she stabbed in the groin who was rolling in the water in pain. She rushed over, grabbed his long black hair, pulled his head back and slit his throat as well, feeling no remorse for the men that were butchering her wounded comrades.

There were six guardsmen left fighting, the rest lay floating dead, their last stand coming to a close as they were one by one overcome. Claire stood drenched in blood with the small blade in her hand, she was now all that stood between the Wutaians and what remained of the wounded. As four enemy fighters raced towards her, she readied herself, knowing that this was probably the end. Two of them dropped before they reached her, felled by gunshot wounds. Her eyes darted to see Cloud leaping over bodies towards her, having fired the last few rounds he had left. One of the Wutaians broke off to fight him, slashing at his rifle with such force that it snapped the bayonet clean off. The Wutaian was powerful, his next strike ripping Cloud's rifle from his hands. Panic sunk in when he realized he was defenseless. He turned to run but the man slashed at him a third time, catching his thick belt and thigh. The belt caught the brunt of the slash but his upper thigh was still cut for several inches. Cloud yelped and dropped down to his knees. He was on the attack instantly though, as he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the waist of the Wutaian, tackling him into the water. As the man struggled to emerge from the water, Cloud removed his helmet and bashed him in the head. Dazing him but doing no real damage. Cloud hit him again, this time breaking his nose and stunning him considerably. Dropping his helmet, Cloud attempted to wrestle the sword free of the man's grasp but he wouldn't let go. The Wutaian reached down and pulled out a small knife he had tucked in his waist belt and stabbed at Cloud who caught the man's hand at the last second and diverted the blade into the bigger man's chest. He yelled in pain and his grip loosened on his sword, Cloud taking full advantage of it by ripping it free and elbowing the Wutaian hard in the face. As the man stumbled backwards with the small knife embedded in his chest, Cloud rushed forward and stabbed him again in the chest. He fell to the ground and was stabbed twice more before he ceased.

Cloud looked up to see Claire finishing off her man before she fell down on one knee, absolutely exhausted. Pete and one other guardsmen were all that remained, fighting for their lives against five enemy. Cloud and Claire ran over to assist, helping to finish off the last of the attackers, but not before one more of their own was killed. Claire looked around to see no more enemy fighters or guardsmen. There were still sounds of battle and cries of the wounded going on all around them in the fog but it had quieted down immensely compared to just five minutes before.

The three friends looked at each other, all bloody, broken, and exhausted. Cloud panted heavily, his heart pounding in his ears and his throat raw and dry from yelling. Pete splashed back to the several wounded troopers moaning in agony while they struggled to keep their heads above the water.

"Hey!" He shouted rearwards, "We need help up here!" He continued yelling into the fog, pausing momentarily to listen for a response but hearing nothing in return. "Where the fuck is everyone!?" He asked aloud, losing hope.

"We need to get out of here before they attack again..." Cloud said as he and Claire joined him.

"What about these guys? We can't carry them." Claire pointed out as she looked around at the six wounded.

"We can pull them through the water, it'll be easier then if we were dragging them on dry ground..." Pete said, thinking quickly, "We each take two...our guys can't be too far behind..." He prayed.

"Alright..." Cloud agreed. They quickly informed the six wounded men of their plan before the three people standing on their feet each grabbed two wounded and began slowly pulling them. Claire could barely move under her own power, let alone drag an extra two people.

"You guys have to help me..." She said over her shoulder to the two men she was dragging. "Kick, swim, use your arms...anything...please." She begged as her body continued shutting down on her. They were both suffering from terrible stab and slash wounds and were barely conscious but they did what they could to assist her. 100 meters seemed like 100 kilometers, they were never going to make it out of the marsh on their own. After five minutes, one of Pete's wounded lost consciousness and his head fell beneath the water.

"Shit..." Pete swore as he dropped his other man and picked the passed out trooper from the cold waters. They continued on, using the last remaining strength reserves they possessed before they were forced to stop.

"I cant..." Claire wimpered as she collapsed into the water, completely spent.

"Get up Claire." Cloud said through heavy breathing. "Get up, if you stop now...you won't start again."

"Hey!" Pete screamed as loud as he could into the fog, having gone past the point of desperate. "Wounded Shinra guardsmen! We need help! Somebody fucking help us!" They waited in silence, hearing only distant intermittent gunshots. "Did the OC pull everyone back already...what the fuck.." He said in disbelief, finishing his sentence trailing off into a whisper.

More Wutaian war horns sounded in the distance, causing the three to swear in unison.

"We really need to keep going...now. "Cloud grabbed Claire from underneath the arms and hoisted her to her feet. She moaned loudly, not assisting in any way to get up. "Come on! You're tougher then this. I know you're hurting, we all are. We have to keep moving though. Please.."

Claire groaned and clenched her fists, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her belly wound was throbbing terribly, not allowing her to stand up straight. "Okay...okay..." She forced out as she reached down and grabbed the collars of her two wounded. They trudged on in pure misery for another 200 meters before Pete called out again, this time hearing a faint response.

"Over hear!" Pete screamed.

"Keep yelling!" A faint voice sounded, trying to find them in the thick fog. Pete obeyed and continued on yelling.

Claire collapsed into the water once again, floating next to the other wounded. She wouldn't be standing up under her own power any longer. As the voices grew louder, she closed her eyes and breathed deep. "Please..." She whispered, praying they would take her out of the marsh, away from the freezing water and her constant agony.

A section from A company found the battered survivors, immediately grabbing the wounded floating in the water. Cloud reached down and helped Claire to her feet once more, this time wrapping her arm around his neck and supporting most of her weight. "Come on." He whispered as he strained under the extra weight, "We're almost out of here." Claire remained silent, too weak to form words. Pete hurried over and placed her other arm around his neck and the three of them walked out of the marsh together. The walk seemed like an eternity but once they reached the hill they originally descended from, they all collapsed onto the damp grass, relieved to be out of the water. When they looked up, they saw the rest of the task force spread out over the slope holding defensive positions. Pete let go of Claire and marched on ahead of his friends, in search of a certain officer. He found who he was looking for quite quickly as niner's tac was an easily noticeable and recognizable group. The bloody and filthy Pete, his face swollen and badly bruised from the hand to hand combat, marched straight into the group and searched for captain Locke.

"Sir!" He shouted when he spotted the officer. The rank heavy talkative group quickly hushed up at the sight of the angry Pete, the OC turning to him in confusion. Pete raised his arms in disbelief and stared at the man for a second. "You left your men to die sir...Why?" Cloud stopped just short of the group, watching the scene unfold. The OC opened his mouth as he looked around at his fellow officers shocked. "A company stayed here while we fought outnumbered...why sir?" Pete demanded, keeping his tone firm but controlled.

"Stand down private!" The sergeant major barked as he jabbed a finger at the boy. "You'll watch your fucking mouth."

"We had no idea what was going on, I wasn't going to commit another company in the confusion." The OC justified to the young trooper. "I make decisions based on the knowledge I have of the ongoing battle, and I had zero knowledge of what was happening."

"Another insubordinate outburst and I'll have you shot!" The sergeant major threatened with a dangerous look. Pete's eyes remained locked on the OC. Even though he understood that he couldn't really blame the man for not sending reinforcements, it still stung to know that he abandoned them to die.

"Come on..." Cloud rushed over and grabbed Pete by the shoulder before leading him away. They retrieved Claire and made their way to the top of the hill without incident, Pete remaining quiet and defeated. "You alright...?" Cloud asked his friend after they reached the top. Pete gave an unconvincing nod and touched his swollen face. "Blaming him won't change what happened, you're just going to wind up in trouble." He told the other boy.

Pete nodded again, this time looking off into the marsh while he did."...but that still doesn't make it right."

...

C company ceased to exist once order had been restored and a damage assessment was taken. Weapons platoon was nearly wiped out during the battle. There were only five members that weren't killed or badly wounded. 1st platoon had two survivors and ten wounded, the rest were either killed or abandoned in the marsh. The few elements of A company that had been involved in the battle took several casualties, but the majority of their men managed to retreat when the order was given. The three medics in A company had neither the numbers, nor the medical supplies to deal with the wounded and many wouldn't be lasting the night.

It was mid-morning and things still weren't clearing up. The entire assault had been delayed while they sorted the casualties and came up with a new battle plan. The task force was back in their positions from the night before on top of the ridge, trying to catch a few hours of rest.

Cloud and Claire sat in their shallow trench, shivering violently while they waited for the medics to come provide care for them. Cloud looked over to see Claire's lips turning blue while she grimaced from the pain and cold. He pulled his rucksack over to the side of the trench and yanked the ground sheet out of it. Jumping out of the trench slowly, he opened up the waterproof sheet and draped it over top of the trench. He then placed his ruck on one side of the sheet and Claire's on the other side to hold it down. Before crawling under the ground sheet back into the trench, he pulled his damp ranger blanket out his ruck along with his jet boiler. Claire remained quietly shivering in the dark trench as Cloud sat down across from her. He lit the jet boiler and the tiny stove began spewing heat immediately.

"That's better.." He commented as he pulled out his only pad of gauze from his webbing. "How's your stomach?"

"Hurts...it's still bleeding." She told him as she stared at the flame. He reached over and handed her the gauze.

"Here, pack it with that. I doubt the medics will have anything left by the time they get to us." Cloud told her as she nodded and attempted to rip open the package but found her fingers too weak. He tore it for her and she opened up her webbing and tunic, revealing her bloody midsection. The two inch incision was wide and deep, still trickling blood. She stuffed the gauze into it, groaning while she did.

"Grrrr...that hurts so much." She strained as she regulated her breathing. She shook as she fought the pain, a few tears streaming down her cheeks. Cloud stretched his leg out and looked down at the massive tear in his upper pant leg. He pulled the material aside and grimaced at the long slash in his thigh. It stung terribly but didn't seem to be bleeding. Next he held up his hand that took the arrow, which the knuckle looked purple and infected.

"That looks painful..." Claire commented as she looked at his mangled hand. He nodded before stretching his hand over top of the jet boil and warming it. "I have a triangle bandage if you want it."

"Sure."

Claire reached into her webbing and produced a small green triangle bandage in a plastic wrapper. She tossed it at him and he wrapped his hand, wearing gloves from now on would prove difficult and painful.

They sat in silence watching the small warming flame, thoughts of the battle replaying in their minds. It was nothing short of a miracle that they made it out alive, but just because they survived today didn't mean they would survive tomorrow or the the next attack. Just as the trench began to reach a comfortable temperature, the fuel for the jet boil ran out and the flame flickered and died. Cloud swore silently as he picked the stove up and gave it a shake to confirm it was empty. He tossed it out of the trench and leaned back into the trench and sighed. The little bit of heat it provided was the only bit of morale they had left, and when it was gone, Claire felt a lump in her throat. She covered her eyes with her hand and sniffed. Her stomach, back, collarbone, and hip all ached terribly from where she was injured, and she was still soaking wet and freezing. It was a new low for her, and she cried quietly, wishing that she was the only one in that trench. Cloud watched her for a few moments before leaning his head back and staring blankly up at the ground sheet. He had no words of comfort to say, no reassurances of how everything was going to be okay or that they were going to make it out of there. Things just kept going from bad to worse, and she was right to be crying. He too would be at the end of his rope soon enough.

* * *

><p><strong>R&amp;R please.<br>**


	16. The Rough Road to Oblivion

**Sorry about the wait. Was away for work  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 16: The Rough Road to Oblivion<strong>_

"'A' company took Silver village..." The sergeant informed the dugout with a smile, "Seven wounded, it was only lightly defended." He finished to un-enthused cheering. Cloud breathed a small sigh of relief, it was the first good news they had received in weeks. Ever since the disastrous morning approach to Silver village three days ago, morale had never been lower and many were beginning to give up hope, Claire being one of them. Without enough bodies to carry all of the wounded back to Steel village, a small dugout was setup on the top of the hill overlooking Silver to house the wounded while Y company pushed up a platoon of reinforcements. For three days they stayed in the crudely made dugout with a tarp draped over the top, and waited for the conditions to be in their favor before launching an attack, while enduring a few night raids from Wutaian fighters.

"Makes sense.." Pete scoffed with a small grin, "The one attack we're not apart of turns out to be an easy one." He shook his head, "I _am _glad for those guys though." He said sincerely.

Cloud nodded and leaned back against the dirt wall of the dugout and looked over at Claire, who remained emotionless. "Just one more village now.." He said to her.

She slowly blinked in irritation and re-positioned herself to ease her aching stomach, "No shit." She hissed in annoyance. Cloud rolled his eyes and looked away. She had become a pain to be around but he put up with her, she had gone through enough.

"Quiet in the dugout!" The medical officer yelled as he entered the crude shelter. The talking immediately stopped and everyone looked in. "Most of the water has soaked up into the ground and it looks like Y company is going to push out its two trucks to come pick up the wounded. They're first going to drop off supplies in Silver village before coming here. There's only room for 18 in the trucks so only the most severely hurt will be going." He informed to the 35 people in the dugout. "The rest will be heading to Silver village. I'll be coming around to do a little triage to determine who is staying and who is going. But this all depends on whether or not those trucks get stuck in the mud or not..."

"A truck ride back to the port and then home sure would be nice..." Cloud said aloud as he stared off, thinking of the reality just out of his grasp. "There are people worse off then me though.." He said looking around at the men slowly dying.

The medical officer made his way to each of the wounded, evaluating their wounds and tagging them for transport if they qualified.

"I'm fine." Pete told the man quickly as he checked his slash wound and battered face. The MO nodded at him and went on to Cloud.

He checked his wounds and frowned at the boy, "Can you carry on?"

"Yes sir." He replied. He was definitely hindered by his wounds and they still hurt like hell but he could still do his job. Without a word the officer moved onto Claire, who remained lying on the ground, choosing not to get up. He checked the stab wound she received in her stomach and the deep gash in her hip. They were well on their way to healing but would still needs weeks until fully repaired. He checked her other two slash wounds before turning to her.

"How do you feel?"

Claire swallowed hard and looked at her stomach wound, "Not too good."

"I'm worried about this here," He said motioning towards her stomach, "This will probably become infected and fester if it goes unchecked." Claire nodded as the MO pulled out a small tag and attached it to his clipboard. "Name?"

"Farron." She replied quietly as both Pete and Cloud looked over. He scribbled her name on the tag and began filling out the details. "Am I going in?"

"I don't see what good you'll do here. Unless you feel like you can still fight." He said looking up impatiently. Claire's eyes darted over to Cloud who was watching her intently.

"Uhh." Claire mumbled

The MO raised his eyebrows in anticipation for her answer as she stalled. "Well? If you want to stay, by all means, there's plenty of people who can take your spot...but I wouldn't advise it."

"I-I'll tough it out." She told him.

"You sure? If you don't keep it clean it'll become infected and who knows the next time you'll be able to get out of here." He lectured seriously.

"I'm sure."

"Okay." The MO ripped up the tag and proceeded onto the next patient. Claire let out a depressed sigh and slumped closer to the ground. There was nothing more in the world she wanted then to leave behind that desolate hellhole, and she had good reason, but now because of her pride she was forced to endure more agony and suffering.

"You could have gotten out of here..." Cloud said quietly looking over. Claire looked away and swallowed hard, she was hurting, worse then her two friends but she still couldn't abandon them.

"I'll have to be hurt a lot worse then this before I go home." She smirked, faking her resolve. Cloud raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, she was obviously in an enormous amount of pain already. "Don't wanna leave you guys anyway." She said honestly as she lowered her tone. Cloud gave her a slight nod and a smile and she returned it.

"Fuck that." Pete spoke up, "I'm leaving you idiots the second I get a chance." He joked, giving his friends a chuckle.

...

There was a pile of dead Wutaian fighters stacked just on the outskirt of the village, having been gathered up and placed there after being killed during the battle. The majority of the enemy fighters who had defended the village were killed three days before in the marsh, where they lay decomposing in the soggy ground. The smell of dead people lingered in the air, a smell that the troops of the task force had grown accustomed to, having been exposed to the odor for most of the deployment. Claire wrinkled her nose as she limped past the macabre pile, more annoyed at having to smell the disgusting scent again rather then horrified at the lack of humanity.

The 20 troops from the dugout were being dissolved into A company to help fill the gaps as the task force was becoming desperately low on healthy people. The two trucks from Y company had come and gone, dropping off what little supplies they had before picking up the wounded. No more food, ammo, or other miscellaneous supplies remained at the port for at least another week when a ship would arrive. There was no outside help or assistance coming anymore, they were to capture Gold village with what they had. Gold was the last stronghold for the Wutaian fighters to occupy. They had over 100 kilometers between them and the next town, which was another province over and a different and unfriendly faction. Considering that all of the civilians in the area had evacuated to Gold, it was likely to be fiercely defended.

After teeing up with their new platoon and boss, both Cloud and Claire were ordered out to one of the sentry points. It was a small foxhole with an LMG overlooking the main road north to Gold, several kilometers away hidden in the distance. Before they left for their sentry shift, they were thrown a single ration pack which they were to share.

"Don't think I've ever been so hungry for a ration..." Cloud commented with distaste as he hopped into the hole.

Claire slowly let herself down into the hole and took a seat behind the machine gun, nursing her stomach all the while. "I know...down to half a ration a day. Things are getting-" She huffed and shook her head, trying to think of a word to describe the increasingly miserable conditions. "...I don't know...just never could have imagined things would get this way."

"Been hearing things like that a lot recently..." Cloud grinned as he tore open the ration pack. He poured the contents out and picked out the edible things. "Chicken stew, applesauce, bread, some peanut butter packets, coffee, and five smokes." He said aloud as he sorted the food.

"How old is it?" Claire asked, referring to the ration.

"Uhh," Cloud flipped the pack over and read the date, "Three years, bread might be a bit hard."

"Yeah...you can have it, I'll take some peanut butter though." She said as he handed her the packet. "Thanks." She ripped a small hole in the tiny packet and began sucking on the end of it. The spread was the only food she had eaten in over a day, and her stomach growled for more as she chewed the gummy peanut butter. Cloud tore into the cold chicken stew and hungrily ate half of the pouch before passing the remainder to Claire. He was starving, but his body was slowly growing accustomed to the malnutrition having gone almost a month with no more then a single meal a day.

"That first meal at home sure will be nice." Claire said as she finished the stew, "I can't even remember what my mom's cooking tastes like." Cloud nodded slowly as he thought of his own mother's cooking. It had been almost two years since he had been home. He hadn't even written her a letter in that time. He missed her. He missed nibelheim, his house, and the quiet life he once had there, even though sometimes it wasn't the easiest. He wondered what his mother would think of him after everything he had done, the people he'd killed, and the things he'd seen. But they were things he'd make sure she'd never know. Homesickness was hitting him for the first time since he'd left to join the Shinra guard. He promised that he wouldn't go back until he was in SOLDIER, and that was still a long way off, first he had to make it out of Wutai alive. "...sleeping in a real bed...a shower..." Claire continued talking, naming off several things she had taken for granted that she was looking forward to. Cloud paid little attention to her, he was still lost in his thoughts of home.

After they finished the rest of the ration pack, they sat in silence, looking off into the barren, treeless landscape. The temperature had dropped in the last two days and at that very moment, tiny flecks of white snow began to fall from the gray sky as the biting wind picked up. One of the specks landed on Claire's reddened nose, giving a small cool sensation.

"Snow..." She huffed depressingly as she blew the fleck off of her nose with a quick puff of air. Reaching into a pouch on her webbing, she pulled a gray fleece toque out and pulled it over her head, covering her ears. Cloud wished he had brought his toque with him, as he now had nothing to cover his head since losing his helmet in the marsh battle. He shivered and did up the top button on his tunic before crossing his arms, trying to keep some of the warmth in. "Did you bring much warm kit with you?" Claire asked, taking notice of him shivering.

He shook his head, "No. I got nothing, just a long sleeve undershirt somewhere in my ruck."

"I didn't bring much neither." She admitted with a frown before rolling onto her side with some discomfort. She reached back into the buttpack on her webbing and yanked out her tattered ranger blanket. She unfurled the poncho liner and draped it over their laps. "Should keep us a little warm."

"Thanks Claire." Cloud thanked her as he shifted closer to her to share the blanket. "How's your stomach by the way?"

"Still hurts a lot...and looks terrible. I'm going to have a bunch of ugly scars." She complained with a sigh.

"Me too, look at my hand..." He took his thin glove off with a grimace and held up his hand. The middle knuckle was swollen and badly bruised from where the arrow narrowly missed digging into the bone. It was scabbed over but dried blood covered most of the knuckle for the wound kept reopening.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing out here?" Claire asked after a few minutes passed.

"I don't know, never gave it much thought." Cloud admitted with a shrug.

"We're moving from town to town, burning these people's homes to the ground and killing their husbands and sons. All because they didn't want to pay a crippling tax that Shinra imposed on them. And for what? You're telling me Shinra doesn't have enough money?" She vented angrily at Cloud. "What are we going to do when we move into this final town? Just kill everybody? There's women and children in there."

"Did you ever wonder why people hate the Shinra guard? This is probably why." Cloud pulled the ranger blanket tighter to himself, feeling the chill of the biting wind still."I don't know what's going to happen." He told her as she continued frowning, "A lot of people are going to die though.."

Claire remained quiet. She was working herself up over things completely out of her control. With every battle, every fight that they were involved in, she found herself becoming slowly opposed to the entire operation. All the killing was taking its toll and she wanted it to end before she lost all of her humanity. A numbness was beginning to set in and soon she would find herself becoming indifferent to all the death surrounding her.

...

"Are you sure he's the only one?"

"No idea, can't see anyone else though." The sniper and his spotter conversed. He breathed deep and calmed himself as he kept a steady bead on the unsuspecting Wutaian lookout, the crosshair of his scope sitting center-mass on the man. "The wind...the wind should hide most of the sound."

"Does anyone see anything else?" The spotter asked the small group of men huddled behind him. Cloud shivered violently in the cold while he scanned the surrounding hill features. He looked at the sniper team laying to his front and shook his head at them. "I think we're good. We won't have long once we take him out. He'll be missed soon enough..." The spotter said as he looked back into his spotting scope. "Take him.."

The man behind the rifle grunted in acknowledgment before flicking the safety off his weapon and taking one last deep breath. Cloud poked his head up out of the small embankment they were hiding behind to get a look at the Wutaian lookout they were engaging. The man was crested at the top of a small hill staring off into the distance. The weapon fired, causing Cloud to jump at the loud crack. He watched the enemy fighter fall to the ground and writhe in pain.

"He's still alive." The spotter said calmly. The rifle cracked again and echoed across the windy plain. "...yeah, he's dead."

"Alright, let's get going. Hopefully no one heard that." The patrol leader told his team as they quickly got to their feet. They moved single file up the ridge, leaving footprints in the thin layer of snow that covered it. They reached the top and the lead man went prone before crawling to the crest. The rest of the patrol lay patiently as the lead man scanned the area with his binoculars. After a couple minutes he crawled off the crest and called for his patrol to regroup on him. "Okay...the village is over the hill, about one kilometer out." He explained as he pulled out his map and laid it on the ground so everyone could see. "It's wide open ground from here until the village, and on the other side there's a river." He pointed to a squiggly blue line on the map that ran along the north side of the village. "I'm going to go back up with...you." He looked around the group before pointing at Cloud, "We're going to further define the area, you guys stay in the low ground and out of sight."

Back at the top of the ridge, Cloud lay next to the older recce man as the both of them scanned the area with binoculars. The blistering snowfall and wind made it hard to see very clearly but they were able to manage to get the information they needed. Cloud jotted down the notes as his leader listed them off and drew a range card, indicating the features of the village. The town was larger then any of the other villages they had captured, full of dozens of huts and small oriental styled buildings. There were close to a hundred people in the fields surrounding the town, creating defensive fortifications. They could be seen digging trenches and placing long punji spikes in them. They were also placing long rows of punji spikes in the ground, funneling attackers into crossfires and enfilades. The hundreds of civilians that were housed in the town were being put to use turning it into a fortress.

"Those must be ours..." The recce leader murmured, referring to the machine guns which were somewhat hidden atop several buildings. "This is going to be a hell of a fight..." Cloud stared warily into his binoculars as he took in the menacing town. The only part of the town with no apparent fortifications was what they could see of the north side. The wide river ran very close to it and there was a skinny bridge that crossed it which had a steady stream of people walking along it. "Attacking from the south looks a little tricky."

"What about from the north?" Cloud asked.

"Well.." The man pulled out his map and looked at it, "That river stretches way west. The only other bridge is about 9km west...no idea what condition it's in though." He said pointing at the bridge. "If the task force attacked from the west, we could follow the river up to the north side of the village...although we would be stuck between the river and whatever awaits us in the town once we get close." He frowned as he thought hard. "A left _and_ a right flanking could work. Both the east and the west seem the least heavily defended. We'd just have to be careful not to get caught up against the river. I don't know how far we'll make it across all of the open ground with those machine gun nests though..."

"Not to mention those punji pits everywhere..." Cloud added as he glanced at the gruesome booby-traps.

"We have what we need. The OC can decide how this all goes down." He said as he began sliding back down the hill. They joined back up with the recce team and preceded back to their comrades at Silver village.

* * *

><p><strong>I'll be updating in a few days, the next chapter is pretty much already done.<br>**


	17. Only the Vicious Survive

**_Chapter 17: Only The Vicious Survive_**

The sky was pitch black as the long line of guardsmen trudged on across the snowy landscape, no moon to give them a hand in navigating. It was blisteringly cold, colder then any previous night they had endured. The OC was putting all of his eggs in one basket, sending the entirety of the task force on the attack. His combat plan had his men cross the river 9km west of the town and swing around to the north where they would lie in wait until first light, at which time, three machine gun teams supported by a sniper and one section would open fire from the south. The diversion was to draw all the Wutaian fighters to the south side of the town, leaving the north side and also the bridge open for the entire task force to pour across straight into the unsuspecting village. With no working radios, the entire plan relied on the task force being in position by first light, when the firing would begin from their distraction force. They also had to cross the rickety bridge quickly before they were noticed, otherwise they risked being chewed up while crossing or if the Wutaians destroyed it, it would leave them with no way to carry on the attack. They were also dangerously outnumbered. 160 guardsmen stood against 400 Wutaian fighters and several hundred civilians who would likely pick up arms to defend their home. It was all or nothing. The task force would either be ultimately destroyed or they would seize a rather pyrrhic victory.

"Keep moving boys, about 2km left." The OC whispered loudly to his men as they filed past in the dark. There was a very dull glow coming from Gold village to the east. They knew they were getting close.

A huge part of the attack relied on luck. They had to move into position without being seen, which depended on whether or not the Wutaians had lookouts to the north or if there were stray civilians about. The bulk of the Wutaian force also had to be drawn to the south once the distraction began otherwise it would be a bloodbath during the bridge crossing. These variables had left the guardsmen with a very uneasy feeling, wondering if things were going to go terribly wrong and result in their destruction.

An hour later, Cloud looked at his watch, squinting to make out the time. It was 5 AM, the sun would begin to rise in the next hour. They had found a large depression in the ground just north of the town about 300 meters. The narrow road that originated from the bridge ran straight through the middle of the depression. The entire task force crammed into the bowl, getting as low to the ground as possible so that the lookouts on the top of the buildings could not see them once it became light out. Cloud lay next to Pete, who was shaking violently from the cold. There was little they could do to keep warm, as any movement could give away their position. It hurt to grip his weapon but he knew that once the battle began, the adrenaline would warm him. Claire lay curled up on the ground, squashed in next to her comrades. She wanted to sleep but knew it was no use. The anxiety of the impending battle was too much. She was counting the minutes, praying that they would last longer and give her more time before the slaughter. Hand to hand, house to house, there was no doubt that this would be just as bad as the marsh.

The minutes ticked by and the horizon turned a very dull dark blue. The OC looked at his watch before whispering 'Ten minutes' to the men surrounding him. Cloud opened his eyes and looked around the huddle mass. There was a thin layer of snow that covered them all, having been lying motionless for over an hour. He raised his head just high enough to see over the berm towards the village. There was still no activity or people walking around. He could see one guard on the house nearest to the snow covered bridge but other then that, the town still slept.

"Five minutes..."

Cloud wiggled his toes to get the feeling back in them, knowing he would be running soon.

"Hey!" Someone whispered coarsely , causing everyone to jolt. "There's someone coming across the bridge!" Cloud stuck his head up again to see what looked like an old man with a cane slowly making his way across the bridge.

"Keep your heads down!" Someone else whispered loudly. Cloud kept his head up to watch the scene unfold. The old man shakily made his way across the narrow bridge, reaching the north side and continuing to walk down the road.

"He's coming right for us..." Cloud whispered to Pete. The man was huddled over, walking painstakingly slow and keeping his eyes on his feet. He was still over a hundred meters away but he would be able to see them soon, even in the low light.

"He's not going to see us until he's right on top us, he hasn't looked up once." The OC said. "Someone get ready to grab him when he gets close..."

Two men crawled up to the edge of the berm and waited with bated breath as the old Wutaian crept slowly towards them. At 50 meters from the task force, they were within plain view if he had just looked up. He kept walking with his head down, completely unaware of the 160 Shinra guardsmen about to attack his town.

Just as the two men were about to leap up and snatch the old man, several red tracers lit up the dim morning sky above the town, whizzing harmlessly above it in the direction of the task force. The distant sound of gunfire soon followed. The old man stopped and shakily turned around as more rounds flew overhead. A loud bell sounded continuously from within the village, serving as a warning to the townspeople and the warriors. The old man quickly began heading back towards his village, causing the task force to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"So far so good..." The OC commented as he looked at his watch. "10 minutes of fire starting now." As the bell continued ringing loudly, fighters and people began pouring out of houses and running through the streets. There was much panic and disorder as people ran about the town. "Fix bayonets." The OC said loudly so everyone could hear him. Cloud pulled the rusty blade from its scabbard and stuck it on the end of his rifle. It was different bayonet, different rifle. He lost his in the marsh and had to find a replacement.

"Good luck guys." Pete said aloud to everyone surrounding him. Cloud gave him a pat on the shoulder before turning back to the town. "We should stick to Claire," Pete said turning to Cloud, "I don't think she'll last too long by herself in her condition."

Cloud nodded, "Yeah I was thinking the same."

Two Wutaian fighters charged across the bridge towards them as they talked, leading a large group of terrified civilians, mostly women and children. The stream of people pouring across the bridge was constant, numbering in the hundreds.

"Shit, they're evacuating the town." The OC swore as the mass of people hurried unsuspectingly towards them. "I guess we're going now..." He rolled onto his side and shouted for everyone's attention. "We're going, 1st and 2nd platoon get across, 3rd and 4th push out to the flanks and take out the guard towers! Once you guys are across we'll be right behind you!" He ordered as the task force jumped to its feet.

"Let's do it." Pete grunted as he ran over the berm with Cloud and their platoon. The startled villagers stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the guardsmen appear from what seemed like thin air. The women and children screamed and immediately dispersed off the road as the few Wutaian fighters that were escorting them stood their ground against the guardsmen. They were shot dead before they could engage the guardsmen, several civilians being hit in the crossfire. The troopers yelled for the civilians to get out of the way as they charged towards the bridge. Mothers screamed and children cried as they ran terrified for their lives back across the bridge. The bridge was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and it quickly became clogged with people trying to get back into the town.

"Get out of the fucking way!" The lead guardsman screamed to no avail as he shoved and pushed at the screaming people. 3rd and 4th platoon opened up on the flanks, peppering the buildings with withering gunfire, causing more hysteria among the civilians. Cloud crouched on the bank of the river, scanning the opposite side for Wutaian fighters while his comrades attempted desperately to clear a path on the bridge.

"Get across that fucking bridge!" The sergeant major screamed. The lead men were now rifle butting the people on the bridge to get them to move, this caused a bigger pile up as people fell and began to get trampled. "Move! Get those people out of the fucking way!"

Cloud watched the tense situation as his comrades brutally clubbed the innocent people. "This is bad.."

"Other side! Contact!" Claire shouted as she raised her weapon and began firing at several fighters who appeared around the side of a building. Many of the guardsmen on the flanks took care of the small groups of fighters that appeared but they were running out of time, they needed to get across the bridge.

"Stand back..." One of the machine gunners said as he grabbed the shoulder of the lead man. He turned around and looked the OC dead in the eye, "Sir?"

"Do it." Was all he said. The machine gunner nodded and raised his weapon before turning it loose on the crowded bridge. The weapon spewed death into the women and children as they tried desperately to escape. After a few short bursts, he stopped firing and ran over top of the piles of bodies before resuming firing at the people further down the bridge.

"No! Stop!" Claire couldn't believe her eyes. She watched helplessly as screaming women and children were cut down mercilessly with vicious point-blank machine gun fire. She turned away, no longer able to watch the horrifying act.

"Go! Get across!" The OC yelled to his men. 1st and 2nd began piling across the blood soaked bridge, running over top of dozens of bodies.

"Claire!" Cloud yelled back to her when he noticed she wasn't moving from her spot on the bank. "Let's go!" She shook her head as she kept her eyes locked on the sobering sight before her, she opened her mouth to protest but no words came, no words could comprehend what had just transpired. "Come on!" Cloud grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the bridge, across the piles of bodies and onto the other side. When he looked at her again her eyes were watery and reddened.

"Clear those two buildings!" The platoon commander yelled to his men as he crossed the bridge. "We need to get-"

A bullet slammed into his chest, sending him on his back.

"Here they come!" A large force of fighters, packed shoulder to shoulder charged through the streets at them, some armed with rifles, others with spears, swords, and bows.

"Light them the fuck up!" The sergeant major yelled as he raised his weapon and leaned back on the trigger. The guardsmen unleashed withering fire on the mass of enemy fighters charging at them. The bullets tore into the ranks, taking a horrifying toll on the defenders. Dozens dropped dead, the streets flowing with their blood.

"Start clearing the buildings! Push forward, kill those motherfuckers!" The OC ordered once he crossed the bridge. The Wutaians were stopped just short of the task force, many of them running into buildings for cover.

"Let's go 1st!" Cloud's platoon sergeant yelled as he ran towards a string of houses. Cloud ran after with Pete and Claire close behind. They stopped next to the door of one of the houses, stacking up with several members of their platoon. The lead man kicked open the weak wooden door, the frame splintering under the force. As the door swung open, he was met with an arrow to the chest. He collapsed to the side and the next man rushed in guns blazing. Claire was close behind, seeing an old Wutaian man armed with a bow fall to the floor dead. Several Wutaians began firing at them from the rooftops of another building, forcing the rest of the men to take refuge inside.

Bullets ripped through the wooden house, killing one of the guardsmen and making the others jump for cover.

"Return fire! Two guys get upstairs, fire from the windows!" The sergeant ordered as he exposed himself through the door and fired a long burst. Cloud and Pete ran upstairs and began firing through the windows across the street at the Wutaians. Cloud looked over his shoulder to see a young woman and two small children huddled terrified in a corner. Cloud got Pete's attention before motioning to the scared people.

"Shit...now what?" He asked. Cloud looked around and saw a small closet to which he pointed at.

"In there, hide in there." He coaxed softly over the noise. The woman was hesitant at first but she grabbed her two children and hurried into the closet and shut the door.

"There's gotta be more of them than this..." Pete yelled over the noise as he reloaded. As he exposed himself through the window, a bullet whizzed through the air and struck his rifle, punching a hole in the upper receiver and exploding, sending several fragments into the side of his face. "Ahh!" He screamed as he collapsed holding his face.

"Pete!" Cloud exclaimed when he saw his friend fall to the floor with blood pouring from his face.

"I'm alright! I-I think I'm alright...am I alright?" He asked unsure as he sat up. Cloud inspected him with concern, frowning at the blood.

"Can you see?" He asked. Pete nodded. "Then I think you're good, just a few cuts."

"They fucked my gun though.." He swore picking up his shattered rifle. More bullets zipped around them, causing Cloud to raise his weapon. He fired back and caught the attention of an enemy machine gunner, who let loose a long burst through the window. Cloud swore as he dove unto Pete, bullets tearing up the room as he shielded him. There was a loud explosion and Pete poked his head up to see that the Wutaian position across the street had been hit with several grenades. "Somebody blew them up.." Pete laughed through his grimace.

"Come on..." Cloud helped his friend up and they began moving for the stairs.

"Look..." Pete pointed at the closet that the mother and her two children were hiding in. Bullet holes littered the previously untouched door. They stopped and looked at each other before Cloud slowly went to open the door. "Don't..." Pete stopped him. "They're dead...you know they are." Cloud swallowed hard and shook his head.

"Goddamn it..." He swore before hurrying down the stairs.

"You alright?" Claire asked when she saw them.

"I got shot in the face." Pete huffed, "I need a weapon."

"Come on, lets move." The sergeant said as he stepped outside. The first several buildings had been secured and the guardsmen were using them as firing bases while the Wutaians regrouped. More and more of them were pouring into the town, having fallen for the diversion at the south side.

"Forget securing these buildings, just burn them." The OC ordered when Cloud's platoon joined him on the streets. Claire looked around alarmed, there were still many civilians in the town, hiding in their homes.

"There's still people in these buildings." She said to Cloud, "And he wants us to burn them?"

"Look what happened on the bridge, I don't think he gives a shit." Cloud pointed out.

Another large force of Wutaians advanced towards them, easily driving a wedge through the middle of the task force. 1st and 3rd platoon were busy fighting on the left flank while 2nd caught the brunt of the assault in the streets. 4th was cut off and surrounded in two buildings, which they fought from, pouring fire onto the enemy fighters attempting to force their way in.

"Shit..2nd platoon is getting hammered..." Cloud swore as he glanced over in-between firing. 2nd was caught completely in the streets and was overrun by the Wutaians. They fought on desperately but were slowly being wiped out in the hand to hand combat.

"3rd! Provide support by fire! 1st platoon go and help out 2nd!" The OC yelled over the deafening roar of battle.

Cloud sprinted across the street with his comrades for the tangled mess of men fighting for their lives. A deadly volley of arrows streaked through the air from several open windows, dropping many of the guardsmen as they ran to rescue their friends. Cloud fired at the windows from the hip as he ran, making sure not to empty his magazine as he would need a few rounds for the street fight. The Wutaians took notice of the Shinra reinforcements and they turned to counter them, charging headlong at the guardsmen. They screamed with ferocity as they neared their enemies, the war cries doing little to intimidate the battle hardened troopers. The two sides clashed, brutal hand to hand commencing. Cloud shot dead the Wutaian barreling down upon him but another took his place. He and Cloud crashed into one another, Cloud being the smaller man, was sent flying to the ground. The Wutaian slashed at him, but his blow was parried off. Cloud's weapon sprang into life, letting loose a short burst that dropped the man on top of him. Cloud grunted as he shoved the dead man off, but he was unable to get to his feet before another fighter attempted to kill him. The warrior carried a bow which he swung, catching Cloud in the head. The flimsy wooden bow struck him with such force that there was a resounding 'CRACK' and Cloud's world went black.

After Claire's first bayonet thrust, she felt her previous stomach injury tear open again. She collapsed to her knee in shock and pain, shooting two fighters while she fought against the pain. As she fired into the mass of enemy surrounding her, she spotted Cloud lying on his back and witnessed him taking a painful strike to the head from a bow. The Wutaian dropped his shattered bow before unsheathing a long dagger. Before he had the chance to plunge the knife into her friend, Claire fired the remainder of magazine at him, killing him and two others.

A large volley of arrows tore through the tangled ranks, hitting both Wutaians and guardsmen alike, depleting the number of combatants. Claire looked over her shoulder to see another large force of Wutaians advancing towards them. With the help of 1st platoon, 2nd was beginning to win their fight, but there would be no way they could survive against another wave.

"Fall back to the left flank!" The platoon sergeant screamed as he fought off a Wutaian.

"Pete!" Claire screamed when she saw him turning to run. His bloody face turned to her. "Help me!" She yelled in desperation as she hurried over to Cloud who was still knocked out. She started to pick him up as Pete ran over and the two of them began dragging his limp body out of the streets. Arrows flew past the guardsmen as they ran for safety, wounding several. 3rd platoon poured fire onto the advancing horde, causing many of them to disperse.

Meters away from the safety of the side of one of the buildings 3rd platoon occupied, an arrow slammed into the side of Pete's right shoulder, spinning him around and sending him to the ground. He yelped in pain, the arrow giving the feeling of being hit with a sledgehammer that had a nail on the end of it.

"Pete!" Claire yelled when she saw him fall.

"Keep going, get him behind the wall!" He yelled from the ground. Claire obeyed and dragged Cloud to safety as Pete crawled after her, his face twisted in pain.

A large explosion from the right flank sent shock waves through the town. Claire looked to see one of the buildings that 4th platoon occupied had exploded, sending flaming debris flying through the snowy air. The building had become overrun and the survivors of 4th had blown up the house, killing dozens of enemy fighters.

"Is he dead?" Pete asked through gritted teeth as he touched the long arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

"Cloud!" Claire shook his shoulder, trying to quickly wake him. There was a gash gushing blood on the side of his head, but nothing too serious. "Wake up!" She yelled as she smacked him hard in the face.

"Leave him...we gotta go." Pete said looking over his shoulder at the ongoing battle.

"Goddamn it Cloud, wake up!" She yelled again, not wanting to leave her friend behind.

"He'll be fine here!" Pete argued as he grabbed Claire with his good hand. She reluctantly turned from him and followed Pete into the nearest house, leaving Cloud in a unconscious bloody heap.

Claire and Pete burst into a building full of their comrades shooting fiercely at the attacking Wutaians.

"I need you to break this arrow." Pete told her as he fished a pistol off the body of a guardsmen.

"Ok..." Claire grasped the long skinny arrow and snapped it a few inches from where it was protruding out of his shoulder. He swore in pain and clenched his teeth, tears streaming down his bloody cheeks.

The mass of Wutaian fighters were too much for the guardsmen to keep at bay and they stormed the building, shooting arrows through the windows. Claire dived to the floor as the deadly projectiles streaked into the room, striking many of the troopers shooting out the windows. She raised her head to see several fighters pouring through the door. Pete fired into them as they ran screaming at him, dropping them one by one. Claire got to her feet and lunged at the nearest enemy with her rifle, stabbing him in the chest. She fired through him, killing the man behind him. Her weapon became stuck in the dead fighter and while she attempted to jar it free, another swung at her with his sword. She caught the blade with a gloved hand and held it off while still trying to wrestle her rifle free. The man let go of his sword and lurched forward, punching her in the face. Her head snapped back from the blow but he didn't let up. Grabbing her by the chest, he flung her sideways into the window. The heavily damaged window frame broke apart under her weight and she fell through to the streets. She crashed to the ground and coughed from the pain. She looked up to see the Wutaians surrounding her fall from gunshot wounds. The guardsmen on the top floor of the building were aiming straight down the side of the house, shooting at the Wutaians pouring in. Claire wasted no time in getting back inside, using the hole she created in the window. Picking up a rifle lying on the floor, she helped finish off the remainder of enemies inside the building. Pete sat propped up against a wall, his pistol empty and two Wutaians lying dead across his legs. Claire rolled the bodies off of him as Pete sat there breathing heavily.

"They got me pretty good..." He coughed weakly. That's when Claire noticed the blood pouring from his chest.

"Shit...Pete..." She whispered as she took in his grave wound. He grimaced but managed a small smirk when he saw the concerned look on her face.

"I need a pistol mag..." He said to her through forced breaths as he held up the empty pistol. Claire looked around the bodies of her comrades, finding one of the redcoats and taking two of the pistol magazines from his holster.

"Here." She took the pistol and loaded it for him before giving it back with the spare mag. "Stick with it...you're not finished yet." She encouraged as she loaded another magazine into her own weapon.

"Fire! Ahh!" Screaming from the top floor sounded down the stairs. Claire turned her head just in time to see a molotov cocktail fly through the open window and shatter on a wall. The volatile bottle exploded, sending liquid flames spewing through the room and all over Claire's right side as she knelt next to Pete.

"Ahh fuck!" She screamed in terror as she batted the flames off of her hip and leg. They were easily snuffed but the rest of the room was going up, and smoke was filling the air.

"Get out the building!" Someone screamed. Claire grabbed Pete and helped him to his feet as the occupants sprinted for the door. They were met with a volley of arrows and the lead man was hit with more then a few. It was either face the slaughter in the streets or burn alive in the house.

The bodies were piling up in the streets and as Claire and her injured friend flew out of the burning building, they tripped over the dead and went tumbling into the bloody snow. The flames quickly engulfed the building and the men on the top floor were unable to get out in time. Two of them leaped from the top floor, screaming as they crashed to the ground on fire.

"Jesus Christ.." Claire mumbled at the horrifying sight.

"Claire!" Pete yelled in a panic as he grabbed at her. He dropped his pistol in the hurry to get out of the building and was unable to deal with three Wutaians heading for them as they lay on the ground. Claire tried desperately to bring her rifle up in time but she was too slow. The first Wutaian slashed at her, tearing through her webbing and slicing her collarbone, crossing the slash wound she received during the marsh battle. She screamed as her blood shot through the air. Gritting her teeth and letting loose a battle cry, she raised her weapon and fired into the man, killing him and the 2nd Wutaian before her weapon clicked empty. The third slashed her rifle to the side and booted her in the chest, sending her flying backwards. He then turned his attention to the defenseless Pete lying next to her.

"Fuck you!" Pete barked at the Wutaian as he held up his arm to block any blow. The enemy fighter gave a quick slash at his arm, cutting deep into the muscle. Pete swore in pain and dropped his guard before the Wutaian stabbed him in the stomach. He pulled it out slightly before slashing upward. The blade sliced his throat vertically and split his chin before becoming buried in his face. Pete's body jerked violently as he convulsed, sending blood shooting out of the massive wound in his throat.

"Pete..fuck!" Claire cried out in anguish as her friend died. Pete's killer yanked his blade free and the boy fell to the ground, bloody and mutilated. "Ahhh!" Claire screamed in anger as she got to her feet and lunged at the man. He batted away her blow and grabbed her by the throat. She struggled to breathe under his vicious stranglehold and he headbutted her, splitting her eyebrow. She winced as blood trickled into her eye, stinging it as it began to swell from the blow. Ripping her rifle from her grasp he tossed it away before unsheathing a small dagger from his waist belt. He stabbed her in the midsection, the blade digging into one of the magazine pouches. The cold metal pierced a full magazine and hit a primer on one of bullets, causing it to explode along with several others. The tiny explosions blew apart the magazine and pouch, blowing off two of the man's fingers and sending a tiny piece of metal into Claire's ribs. They both screamed in unison and the man released his grip on her. He staggered backwards looking at where his digits used to be, now bloody mangled stumps. Claire looked down to see the blown apart knife the Wutaian dropped, the blade badly damaged but still deadly. She quickly retrieved it and rushed the bigger man, stabbing at him. He caught her hand and the two wrestled with the broken blade. She hocked bloody spit into his eye, causing him to falter in their fight. Seizing the moment she punched him in the nose and wrestled the knife free before jamming it into his mouth. The blade smashed several teeth and cut the inside to ribbons as she shoved it deeper into his mouth. He made a horrible garbled noise as she pressed home the attack. Ripping the blade out, sending blood, teeth, and saliva flying, she stabbed him in the throat and let go of the knife. He gurgled and collapsed to his knees while clutching the handle of the blade. Claire slapped his hands off and took hold of the knife again before kicking him hard in the chest. He fell backwards and the blade ripped free, blood shooting out of the wound.

Claire collapsed to her knees exhausted, surrounded by bodies that stained the streets a dark red. She looked to her right to see the body of Pete lying a few feet away, collecting fresh snow. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face. Even with all the death and terrible things she'd seen, this was one thing she couldn't bear to see.

Before she could get to her feet, an explosion a few feet away knocked her onto her back, the concussion making her head spin and ears ring. A grenade on a body of a burning guardsmen had cooked off and detonated. Claire felt her vision faltering as her world spun. Everything sounded muffled except for an incessant ringing. Utterly exhausted and having no more will to carry on fighting, she closed her eyes and felt herself go numb.

...

When she finally awoke from her daze, things had quieted down. She opened her eyes to see that her outstretched arm had collected a slight dusting of snow. There were a few stray shots but for the most part the only other sound was that of the burning buildings. Claire sat up and looked around, she was only feet from the building they were in before it caught fire. It was now a smoldering heap, along with every house on the right flank where 4th platoon occupied. The entire place was covered with the bodies of guardsmen, Wutaian fighters, and civilians. There were a few guardsmen walking among all the bodies, checking for wounded and anyone alive. The village had been taken but very little of it remained. All the occupants had been killed in the fighting. Men, women, and children. None survived.

Claire sniffed as she looked around at the destruction. Everything felt numb, she had no idea how long she had been unconscious while the battle raged on around her.

"You ok?" Someone asked from behind her. She turned her head slightly but didn't respond. She shakily stood up and breathed deep. The smell of burning wood, fresh blood, gunpowder, and scorched flesh filled the crisp air. She looked around at the bodies within feet of where she had laid, her eyes falling on Pete. She quickly looked away and closed her eyes tight, feeling a lump in her throat. Reaching behind herself, she pulled the ranger blanket out of her buttpack. She unfurled the tattered and faded blanket that she had carried since basic training, a piece of kit that held a small amount of sentimental value. Kneeling down next to his bloody and snowy body, Claire draped it over top of the motionless Pete, covering him from head to toe.

"Sorry Pete..." She sniffed, her tone low as she rested her hand on his leg for moment. After saying goodbye to her friend, she stood back up and remembered her wounds. She looked down at herself and saw the blown apart magazine pouch and the small hole it tore through her tunic. Reaching her hand underneath the shirt, she felt for the spot where she had been hit, gasping slightly when her finger found the injury. A tiny piece of metal stuck out of her skin, which she chose to leave in rather then yank out. The slash wound on her collarbone was superficial and stung like crazy but she shrugged it off. "Not so bad..." She thought aloud. "Wait a minute..." She frowned, "Cloud!" She exclaimed, having forgotten about him.

Hurrying back to the spot they left him at, she prayed he was still alive, not wanting both of her friends to have died that day. She rounded the corner to the now badly burnt building he was hidden behind and found him, unconscious and bloody, just the way he was left. There was a small layer of snow on him but she could see his breath in the cold air, he was still alive.

"Cloud!" She cried happily as she dropped to her knees and shook him. He stirred for a moment before groaning and grimacing from a pounding headache. "Are you okay?"

"Ughhh...my head..." He complained as he brought a hand up to the side of his bloodied head. Claire helped him sit up and he opened his eyes, the brightness causing him to squint. "Wha-what happened?" He asked shakily as he held his forehead.

"You were knocked out, you took a hell of a hit to the head." Claire explained as he looked around.

"Is...is it over?" He asked to which she nodded. He slowly got to his feet and stepped out from behind the building, taking in the horrible sight before him. "Where is everybody?" He asked with a frown, noticing only a handful of guardsmen walking among the ruins. He turned to face her when she didn't answer. "Where's Pete?"

"Umm.." Claire sniffed and swallowed hard. Her face said everything she needed to say. She blinked away a few tears as she saw Cloud's face begin to twist in heartbreak. He turned back to look at the mess of bodies that covered virtually every inch of the town. It almost seemed selfish to be mourning only one loss of life in that terrible scene but he still was. "I'm sorry Cloud."

He shook his head with a scowl as he swallowed the lump in his throat. There wasn't a building that wasn't burned or damaged in one way or another. With so much death and destruction, it was hard to even feel loss or remorse. "They sure died for a good cause.." He said bitterly. He had lost more then a few friends during their time in Wutai but none as close a friend as Pete Crawford, the first person he met when joined up. "Shit Pete..." He squeezed his eyes shut to stop the tears but they still came. Kneeling down he pressed a hand to his face and sniffed, trying to calm himself as Claire placed a hand on his shaking shoulder.

"I'm sorry." She said again. Cloud coughed a bit before clearing his throat and standing back up. He rubbed his reddened eyes and turned to face Claire.

"Are you alright at least?" He asked, taking notice of the tear in her tunic and exposed upper chest. Claire reached up and touched the still fresh cut on her eyebrow and frowned.

"I got a little roughed up, nothing I can't handle though." She said with a small smile.

"That's good to hear..."

"Hey!" The two of them turned to a guardsmen yelling at them. "You guys okay? We have wounded that need to be dealt with!" He shouted to them.

"I guess we better go." Claire said as she started walking after the man. Cloud breathed deep and followed her, switching off his mind as he weaved around the mutilated bodies.


	18. Outside Your Virture

_**Firstly, I would like to apologize for the long wait. Not fair to you guys at all so I'm sorry. Secondly, I've not given up on the story by any means, I've been constantly gone for work since the beginning of the new year and will be gone much more. I'll be making future chapters much shorter so I can update faster, but there will still be periods where I can't update for at least a month. This chapter also underwent an entire rewrite whereas I suffered considerable writers block, which is also to blame for the wait.**_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 18: Outside Your Virture<strong>

Cloud winced in pain as he forced one aching foot in front of the other, his soaking wet and ruined boots sloshing through the melting snow as the column of spent guardsmen trudged onward. Even after such a long journey, and with salvation in sight, the last leg of the trek seemed like the most excruciating. They could see the ocean and the dock surrounded by several tents from where they walked. The last time they saw this place was three months ago, back then they never could have imagined what they were getting themselves into.

Shifting the heavy ruck on his back to ease some of the discomfort, Cloud looked back at Claire who was struggling just as much as him. "So close.." He huffed with a crack in his voice. A weak grin formed on Claire's cracked lips before quickly fading away. She hadn't smiled much since the battle at Gold village. Nobody had. Of the 160 guardsmen who marched into that town, only 29 walked out. After linking up with their distraction force, the survivors collected and buried their dead in a mass grave. They scrounged what little food and supplies they could from the mostly destroyed village before burning the rest of it. It was a 4 day march back to the coast wherein all of the severely wounded died along the away. Now that they were within reach of shelter and safety, only 48 of them were left alive. The chain of command was decimated. The OC, sergeant major, all officers, and most NCOs had died or were wounded throughout the three months. The survivors didn't care much for completing what remained of the mission, all that mattered now was survival and that depended on reaching the coast in time before the next ship arrived. They were half starved and half dead from wounds and exposure. They wouldn't last long without rescue.

The sorry looking group slogged down the muddy and snowy road, eventually reaching the port. Cloud collapsed onto his knees and dropped his weapon. He leaned back until his ruck was propped up against the ground and he sat against it. Relief washed over his burned out muscles and he felt dizzy. The group all shed their rucksacks one by one, groaning and stretching after they dropped the heavy packs. Claire reached down and grabbed a handful of the wet snow and ate it thirstily. She had run out of water since they passed Iron village and had nothing but snow to keep her from dehydration.

The leader of the group, a sergeant from A company, took off in search of whoever was in charge at the port. There was no activity inside the small camp. One building by the dock and several mod tents was all that it consisted of. The sergeant walked into the first tent, finding the long rectangular structure empty except for a few cardboard boxes. He moved onto the others, finding dozens of bloodstained cots that had once been occupied by the many wounded that flowed through there. The rest of the tents were filled with either garbage or abandoned equipment. The small wooden shack by the dock was the last place to check. He pushed open the old door and found it empty except for two water jerrys, several boxes of rations, and a note pinned to one of the boxes.

"Hey guys." The sergeant returned to the group as they rested in the snow, having no desire to explore the camp. "The place is deserted, there's a few jerrys of water and some rations and cots, but that's all they left behind." He explained to the exhausted group. "They left a note behind, it offers a little good news...I guess." He held up the note he found pinned to the ration box. "It reads-"

_'If anyone from the TF finds this, you'll obviously have discovered that the port party is no longer around. A ship came in today and we're leaving with the wounded. There would be no use for us to stay behind and occupy an empty port. The last working truck broke so we're loading it on the boat with us, there were no supplies on the ship, it only showed up to retrieve the wounded. We left behind what remained of our food and water for you, which isn't much. We have run out of all medical supplies but there's a few blankets in this shack. They said the ship will return in a week and if there's no one around, they won't be coming back for a month. After that time, no one will be returning for a few months while a follow on force is assembled.'_

_Regards_

_Mcpl Wilson_

The sergeant folded the piece of paper and stuffed it into his pocket. "It's dated two weeks ago...which means we missed the first ship and have another 3 weeks until it shows up again." There was much grumbling and cursing coming from the men, angry that they had to spend another 3 weeks there. "There ain't much food left. We'll still have to ration it very carefully, I guess we could try fishing...? Water shouldn't be a problem, just melt snow."

"It never ends..." Claire complained bitterly as she sat down and sulked.

...

Cloud's feet slipped out from underneath him as he slid trying to walk up a muddy incline. He fell on his face and swore in pain and embarrassment. Claire let out a snort of laughter at her friends expense as she watched him pick himself up from the mud.

"So graceful." She commented with a smirk. Cloud groaned as he wiped thick mud off of his already disgusting uniform. He flicked a small amount at Claire as she walked past him and up the small hill, sharing none of the difficulty he struggled with. She reached the top and looked off into the distance before raising her rusty rifle. "Coyote." She said in a bored tone.

"You going to shoot it?" Cloud asked when he joined her. He looked out to see the small furry dog-sized animal trotting unaware across the windy plain. Claire lowered her rifle slowly, never taking her eye off of the coyote.

"No..." She frowned before turning and starting off in the opposite direction. Three weeks of surviving off of one ration a day between her and Cloud, plus whatever wild animals were hunted, left her with constant hunger but she'd had enough of killing, even if it was just a coyote.

Cloud aimed his rifle and kept a bead on the animal before it stopped and looked at him. His stomach growled at him but the innocent looking coyote changed his mind right before he pulled the trigger. It was disturbing how much easier it was to shoot a human then a wild animal. Cloud hurried after Claire who was already walking back towards the coast. The survivors conducted clearance patrols for the first two weeks in case of any Wutai stragglers but the past week the command structure within the group collapsed and the patrols stopped. There was no motivation or energy to carry on doing their jobs so the group splintered and most were acting independently. Not that anyone really cared, they were literally stuck there until rescue arrived. During the day most people went out in search of animals to hunt as the rations ran out by the end of the first week. The weather had improved slightly, with the temperature rising and snow melting. It was still cool and windy but they were no longer battling the cold.

"Why didn't you shoot it?" Claire asked him once he caught up with her.

"I don't know...why didn't you?" He shrugged. He didn't receive an answer, she just kept on walking tiredly towards the port, the whipping wind blowing her messy hair about while she kept the same stale expression. "I guess I figured he wasn't all that different from us, just out looking for something to eat." Cloud sighed, thinking of how nice it would have been to have somewhat of a meal. "I wonder what it's like to not be hungry." He said depressingly as the constant hunger clawed away at him.

"Wha-what is that?" Claire interrupted his thoughts as she squinted and pointed towards the coast. Cloud looked to see a tiny black object off in the distance not far from the port. "Is that the ship?!"

"That's...the ship!" Cloud exclaimed as the duo looked at each other excitedly before bursting into an all out run. "It's about time!" He laughed as they ran across the open plain. There was no exact date that the ship was supposed to arrive but it had been over three weeks and the already impatient guardsmen were beyond frustrated.

"Oh my god, I can't believe it's finally here!" Claire said happily, unable to contain her excitement.

They hurried back to the port, finding several of their comrades already waiting anxiously at the dock. They gathered up their belongings and returned to the dock to wait for the small vessel. It arrived to much cheering and waving from the survivors who couldn't be more eager to leave. The ship was a much smaller vessel then the one that they had arrived on. It could maybe fit 100 people in total without equipment, luckily there was only 48 of them. After having to wait a couple of hours to allow all of the guardsmen to return from their individual hunting endeavors, the ship departed with its grateful new passengers.

...

The four day journey across the ocean dragged by and Claire found herself lounging on the deck with the majority of the guardsmen, enjoying the sunlight and warm ocean breeze. Things had warmed up considerably after the second day and for once they weren't shivering from the elements. There wasn't much food on board but they were more then used to eating just enough to stay alive. In the weeks before they were rescued, there were talks of decompression leave. A type of leave that was given immediately following a deployment to allow the troops to rest and readjust to regular life. The troopers who had done previous deployments said that they were usually sent to Costa Del Sol for a week, all expenses paid, but the captain of the ship informed them that they were heading directly to Junon, no decompression.

As their sea voyage came to a close, they neared their destination, the massive cannon of Junon stuck out like a pointing finger, more a symbol of Shinra's power then a practical defense. Cloud leaned against the railing on the bow of the ship, the wind blowing in his element burnt face as they neared the seaside city.

Civilization at last.

The ship docked and the guardsmen filed off onto the docks and onto the main street. There was no one to greet them or give any direction, like they had been forgotten.

"Did they not expect us to come back?" Claire frowned as she dropped her rucksack and sat on it. People shuffled by them, eyeing them curiously and with a slight hint of disgust. Not many people were aware of the operation and those who were didn't care. To them these were just another group of filthy guardsmen returning from a field exercise.

After several uncomfortable minutes waiting around in the streets, a young clean looking lieutenant walked up to them.

"You guys just come from Wutai?" He asked the scraggly group of sorry looking troopers. They nodded and he informed them that they were to be sent back to Midgar as soon as possible. It wasn't long before two buses pulled up next to them and the guardsmen loaded up.

They received no further information or instruction once they left, the drivers knew nothing other than to drop them off in the city. They felt forgotten more then anything. They didn't expect or even want a heroes welcome, just more then a random officer with a clipboard.

...

Home.

Or whatever that tiny little room and its four walls offered. Cloud's stripped uniform lay on the floor in a heap, his ruined boots at the door next to his ruck, and his eyes stared in a trance at himself in the mirror. He recoiled as he gawked at the stranger looking back at him; the filthy, unshaven, thin, and scarred person had never been in that room before. He liked it better when he couldn't see himself; his wind and sun burnt face, greasy hair, cracked lips, and bloodshot eyes, it was one of the most sickly sights he had ever seen, and it was himself.

It was quiet, and there was no tension in his room. Five months of being on edge every waking second made it peculiar when you didn't have to look over your shoulder anymore. But he could finally breathe easy, and he couldn't be happier to be out of that hellhole. Hard to believe that only 48 of them walked out of there alive, and that the rest either lay in shallow graves or hospital beds. Those of them that did make it home in one piece were greeted by a near empty battalion. A task force had been created with the remaining companies of the MidGuard and Junon battalions for action at Fort Condor, which had been seized by local villagers and their contractors. The dug in mercenaries were proving to be troublesome at Shinra's mako reactor at Condor so a task force was created and dispatched to begin training for combat there. They would be without a doubt, soon heading to join their sister companies in dying in the muck and mud.

Three weeks of waiting for a ship to pick them up from Wutai, a four day boat journey, a five hour bus ride, and a ten minute walk and Cloud was back in his room in the shacks in Midgar. Thrust right back into regular life with no decompression, not that anyone expected it.

After a very long shower, comprised mostly of leaning against the wall just enjoying the torrent of hot water hitting his grimy skin, he changed into a clean set of civilian clothes. The soft material was in direct contrast to his uniform which was hard, stained, and ultimately ruined after months of constant field use. He left his things still piled by the door when he left, not caring to deal with the filthy gear. Finding Claire as clean and sterile as he, they took to the streets of Midgar in search of food, having survived off of nothing but one meal a day of rations for the last two months.

A small restaurant in the congested downtown served as their first venue. Having swelled bank accounts from the four months of not being able to use them, the pair decided on a place far more pricey then they were used to. They stood out when they walked inside, their plain informal clothes giving off more attention then the fanciest suit.

"You cleaned up nice." Claire noted kindly once they had both taken their seats at a dimly lit booth. Cloud smiled at the compliment and picked up the menu and flipped through it, smirking at the ridiculous prices. "I'm going to spend a fortune here." He stated, more of a promise then an observation. Claire crossed her legs and glanced around at the artwork that covered the walls in a repetitive fashion. She surprised herself, it was more then easy to readjust back to regular life, not that she'd foreseen issues arising but she thought there would be an awkward phase before things went back to normal. "When was the last time we ate something that didn't come out of a plastic packet?" Cloud questioned with a slight turn of his head.

"Costa Del Sol-four months ago." She answered quickly, remembering immediately.

They ordered their food and waited patiently for their drinks. Beers had been ordered, which seemed more then appropriate for the occasion, even though neither drank them regularly.

"Glad we made it home." They clinked glasses and took a long drink.

"I wish Pete was here." Claire murmured sadly as she looked down at the table.

"And a lot of other people too." Cloud added. They sat staring, thinking of the terrible ventures in Wutai, the blistering cold, bloody snow, and dead friends.

Their food arrived and they ate hungrily, not pausing to speak or drink. Their shrunken stomachs weren't accustomed to so much food and even though Cloud was intent on ordering more, he was satisfied with his first order.

It wasn't long before he noticed that Claire had been looking at the center of the table for some time, her eyes burning a hole in it. He had found that a lot of them had developed a sort of glossy stare, even in conversation, it seemed as though they were staring through him.

"Full?" He broke in, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Oh..yeah-yeah it was good." She replied with a slight shake of her head. "Was just thinking about home."

"You think we're going to get time off?"

"I hope so...it's been four months." Claire said as their waiter took away their empty plates.

"Are you going to tell your family about..." Cloud paused, "...the things that we did...and saw?"

Claire frowned and her eyes wandered uneasily. "No. They know I was in Wutai. I wrote them a letter when we left Costal Del Sol telling them I was going there for work, but other then that, I don't think they know what went on there. I don't really want them to know anyway." Cloud nodded. "What about you? Are you going to tell your mom about it?"

Cloud shook his head, "No, I'm not going to go home though."

"What?" Claire asked quickly with a scowl. "Why not?" She already knew the answer and shook her head before he could respond, "Never mind." She always became irritated whenever the topic of SOLDIER came up and she didn't need another argument about it. "So what _are _you going to do during your time off then? Just stick around the barracks?"

"I don't know..I guess."

Claire shook her head again, "So you're just going to sit by yourself in the shacks with no one to talk to or anything for a week?" Cloud shrugged, not having thought of what he was going to do during his time off. "That's just sad."

"I'll be fine." He assured.

They slept uneasy that night, waking every hour as their minds were hardwired that way, an internal alarm clock going off to make sure they weren't sleeping when they shouldn't be. The barracks were lonely with the majority of the battalion deployed, the usual thumping of feet down the halls had vanished with them.

Back at the battalion the next day, the survivors of Task Force Wutai gathered for their address by what remained of the battalion command team. Only the 2IC and a handful of officers stayed behind to run the battalion.

The 2IC-major Reynolds-went on to thank the troopers for their hardwork and sacrifice, and for getting the job done. He assured them that they would be getting a week of paid leave to anywhere in the world they wished to travel-much to the joy of his crowd. They would inevitably be deployed to Fort Condor to join Task Force Condor once a new battle group had been assembled he told them.

"There's an alternative though.." The major hinted as he raised a finger. "A brand new unit is being developed, its supposed to be one step below SOLDIER." The very word making Cloud's ears perk up. "Our battalion has been offered 20 spots on the 1st ever course. I have very little info on what it entails or the job but if you pass the course you'll no longer be apart of this battalion." Cloud frowned as he listened, interested in the new unit but still clueless as to what the actual job was. "If you do choose to go on the course, you'll be gone for at least 4 months training which means you won't be deployed to Fort Condor once the next battle group is organized. I'm assuming these troopers will specialize in unconventional warfare and small party raids...but that's just an assumption." He shrugged, "Think about it during your time off but other then that...I have nothing else for you guys, enjoy your leave." He smiled and made his exit, leaving the survivors of Task Force Wutai free for a week.

...

Cloud finished storing his filthy kit from Wutai and collapsed onto his bed. A whole week of sitting in that room with nothing to do but sleep and mull over whether or not he should try out for the new unit standing up.

There was a knock at his door and Claire let herself in before he answered. She had a green duffel bag slung on her shoulder and she stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"Taking off?" He asked as he sat up.

"Yep. So you coming with me or not?" She asked quickly.

Cloud frowned, "What? No..."

"You're seriously going to stay here and do nothing for your leave?" She scoffed. "You'll be hanging from the rafters by the time I get back." She joked darkly.

"Good thing my room doesn't have rafters..." Cloud quipped as he rolled his eyes.

"Come on," She reasoned, "If you're not going to go back to nibelheim then at least come to Junon with me. My mom won't care. Getting away from all things Shinra for awhile will do some good. I'm sure you don't want to eat the crappy food they serve at the mess anyway."

"That's true." He agreed, "But it's your home, your family. I don't want to get in the way of you visiting them."

"Trust me, you won't. There's plenty to do in Junon, you know that." She said as she shifted the duffel on her shoulder, "I just hate to see you stay here by yourself."

"I don't know.." He scratched his neck uncomfortably.

"Well it'll give me someone to talk to about.." She paused and wrinkled her brow, "...all the things we went through, cause there's no way I'm telling my mom or sister about it." She huffed, "Now come on, the bus leaves in 45 minutes."

Cloud breathed deep as he looked at her and she smiled back. It was hard to say no to his friend, especially now that she was the only one he had left. He felt a little intrusive going to visit her home, hopefully her mother wouldn't mind. He was socially awkward enough without being an unwanted house guest. "I don't have a leave pass for Junon though.." He argued in a fruitless last ditch attempt.

Claire's eyes narrowed and she stared hard at him, "Get packed you loser, that's not going to work." She hissed, a sly grin forming on her lips.

An hour later they were both on a bus heading for the coast. Even though Cloud was reluctant to join her, he was secretly glad that Claire forced him to go with her. He didn't want to stay in that room alone for a week.

"Thanks for coming with me." Claire thanked him as the bus pulled out of the station. "It's not going to be that bad." She reassured with a grin, hoping that she hadn't twisted his arm too much.

"I know." Cloud huffed. He was grateful to have a friend that looked after him, there was never anyone in his life that went out of their way to help him. They had always been together once things had started to get really bad on Wutai and hadn't been apart much since then. A mutual dependency had developed overtime, helping each other through the ordeal. Cloud couldn't think of many times when Claire wasn't around where they could discuss their feelings or actions, even as far back as basic training.

Claire let out a happy sigh when she saw her quaint little house on the outskirts of Junon. She hadn't been home since battleschool and she missed her mother and sister dearly. It was early in the evening and there was a small trail of smoke coming from the chimney-indicating her family was home.

"My mom's name is Julie by the way." Claire told her spiky-haired friend as the two of them walked down the dirt path to her house. "...and my sister is Serah."

"Julie and Serah...got it." He repeated. They walked onto the porch and Claire opened the creaky door, giving it a couple knocks as she did.

"Hello?" She said aloud as the two of them stepped into the small house.

"Claire!" Her younger sister exclaimed from the top of the stairs. She rushed down to see the older girl and gave her a hug while both Cloud and Claire chuckled. "You're back!"

"I am!" She said excitedly back, "So good to see you, I missed you and mom so much." She said while continuing to hug her tight.

"Who's he?" Serah asked with a shy smile as she looked up at Cloud.

"This is my friend Cloud, he's a guardsmen like me."

"Hi Serah." Cloud greeted with an awkward smile.

"Hi." The young pink-haired girl said back with giggle.

"Where's mom?"

"She's outside in the garden." Serah pointed to the backyard.

"Come on, let's go see her." Claire said as she put an arm around her sister and led them through the house to the back door. They stepped outside to find their mother tending to her garden on her knees. She took no notice of them at first as she kept focused on her plants. "Mom!" Claire almost shouted when the older woman never looked up from the dirt patch. Her head snapped sideways and she stood up with a big smile when she saw her daughter.

"Claire!" She quickly wiped the dirt off her hands before Claire threw her arms around her and hugged her. Cloud smiled as he watched them, Julie looked more like Claire's older sister then her mother. Shorter blonde hair but for the most part, they looked very much alike.

"I missed you guys so much. Feels like it's been forever since I've been home." Claire said as she let go of her mom.

"Well let's get inside, I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about-oh...who's this?" She asked with a touch of surprise when she saw Cloud standing in the door.

"Mom, this is my friend Cloud." Claire introduced, "We work together and were both on Wutai. His family lives in Nibelheim but we weren't aloud to leave the continent for our week off though.." She lied, "So I offered him our place to stay for the week, just to get him out of Midgar and off of the base. I hope it's okay."

"Um, of course, there's a bed in the basement." Julie hesitated, surprised that Claire had brought a guest but not opposed to the idea. "Nice to meet you Cloud." She smiled as Cloud greeted her back. "I was just about to start dinner, I'm sure you missed your mother's cooking." The older woman winked.

"I sure did." Her daughter smiled as the four of them moved back into the house.

Cloud was shown to the basement where a small single bed sat in the corner. He was fixed up with some blankets and he unpacked a few of his things. The basement was little more then a hallway filled with old boxes but he didn't need much more then a bed. He joined the three women upstairs while Claire and her mother prepared dinner.

"So how was Wutai? Must have been cold this time of year." Julie asked as she skinned a potato.

Claire huffed with a small smile, "Yes, very cold. It wasn't so bad by the time we left but the rest of the time it was freezing."

"What were you guys doing there?" Serah asked Cloud as he took his seat at the table next to her.

"Oh-um..." His eyes shot to Claire's whose mouth was half open searching for a response. "Not a whole lot really..." He stalled.

"There was some unrest in a few of the villages there," Claire stepped in quickly, "We were just there to stop people from hurting each other or damaging things." She shrugged to her sister, playing it off as nothing note worthy.

"Did anything ever happen?" Her mother asked curiously.

"Uh," Claire frowned and shook her head, "No not really, there were a couple incidents but nothing too serious...right Cloud?" She glanced at him for confirmation.

"Yeah, it was pretty boring on the whole." He added, continuing the lie. Claire nodded and went back to chopping up the greens for dinner.

"Did you get me a present when you were gone?" Serah grinned hopefully.

The older girl giggled with a shake of her head, "No, sorry sis, there weren't many shops where we were."

"Oh." Her sister murmured in disappointment as her smirk faded.

"I _did _get one souvenir though..." She said before walking over to her duffel that lay in the hallway. She quickly rummaged through it before producing a small sheathed oriental dagger. "A Wutaian knife I got from a soldier over there." She told them as she removed the scabbard. "I believe it's called a tantō.." She said trying to remember with a frown. She sheathed it and handed it to Serah with a word of caution. Her sister appeared only mildly interested in the small blade for a moment before she passed it over to her mother.

"Very colourful..." Julie commented as she examined the bright red hand grip and scabberd. Cloud frowned slightly as Claire retrieved the dagger and returned it back to her duffel. It seemed like an odd thing for her to bring back, as she didn't seem like someone who would collect battle trophies, or loot dead enemy fighters. But the truth was that she found it in the first village they occupied early on in the operation and she had buried it deep in her rucksack where it had been forgotten. Had she rediscovered it before returning home, she would have ditched it along with everything else she had collected over the four month period.

Once dinner began, Cloud remained mostly quiet throughout. He still felt intrusive in Claire's household even though he had been welcomed warmly. It was Claire's time to reconnect and catch up with her family after going through such traumatic events, something Cloud believed he had no business being apart of. Just like when he would one day return to his own mother, he didn't want anyone there to spoil the reunion.

The two guardsmen tried avoiding the topic of Wutai for the duration, neither feeling the need to add to the lie anymore then they already had. Although Claire suspected her mother could tell that they weren't being entirely truthful. Her skeptical looks whenever Claire answered a question betrayed her suspicions but she never pressed the subject. The last time Shinra had gone to Wutai, there had been a costly war. Julia was certain they hadn't returned to make friends.

...

The days past by quicker then either of them wished and their return to duty was just around the corner. Claire spent as much time with Serah and her mother, spoiling both of them with shopping sprees and expensive meals. She had given her mother virtually all of the money she had accumulated in the past several months, knowing that they were still barely managing to get by. The notion that she would likely be at fort Condor soon, constantly jabbed at her whenever she began to relax and truly enjoy her time home.

Cloud kept to himself, choosing not to join the Farrons on their outings for the most part. He had been trying to gain back the weight he lost in Wutai and also going to the gym, knowing that he was extremely out of shape. The new unit being organized dominated his thoughts as it would be one step closer to SOLDIER, something that was once so far out of reach.

With Serah and Julie unable to take anymore time off from school and work, the two guardsmen spent their last day on leave relaxing around the Farron home until the big dinner that was planned for that night.

Cloud listened to the sound of the rustling tall grass as the wind picked up. It was soothing to listen to, it reminded him of the windy plains outside of Nibelhiem. He stood by the garden Julie tended to every evening, watching the cloudy skies drift inland. Claire's house was a very calming place. No sounds of city life or vehicles, just the open plain and nature.

"Hey." Cloud turned to see Claire's face in the kitchen window. She stepped outside and took a seat on the steps. "What you doing out here?" She asked with a polite curiosity.

"Oh nothing." He replied looking out into the distance. "Just enjoying the view."

"Yeah. I miss it sometimes." She said leaning forward onto her knees.

"I like it here, it's very peaceful." Cloud said turning to her.

She smiled, "Simple and quiet. I think that's why my mom never moved into the city. Even though she'd be closer to work. At the end of a day it's nice to come out here and just look out and see nothing. Just rolling hills."

"Yeah, I'm trying to enjoy it before we have to go back tomorrow." He said a little sadly.

"As much as I love coming home to see my family, I hate it too because it makes me realize that I'm missing my little sister grow up...and it makes leaving again just that much harder," Cloud walked over and took a seat on the stairs next to her. "And it gets harder on my mom when I leave too." Claire continued, "I joined the Guard to make things easier on them, but I think I'm doing the opposite."

"Do you ever think about getting out of the Guard? Coming back to Junon?" He asked.

"Sometimes. Well, quite a bit actually." She said truthfully. "Especially since we've been back."

"Really? Because I was going to ask you if you were thinking about joining that new unit they're putting together."

Claire huffed and gave a small shake of her head. "No, definitely not." She said to which Cloud frowned, "I don't think I want to do this job for very much longer."

"Well, I don't think the rest of our time spent in Shinra will be like it was in Wutai. I'm sure it'll get better." He tried convincing.

"What? You think if they send us to Condor that things will be different?" She quipped sarcastically,\.

"No, I'm just saying that-"

"Cloud," She interupped with a serious tone as she turned to him, "We're not good people. There's a reason people hate Shinra. Look at what we did..."

"What we did? We did what we had to do to survive." He replied sharply, "What are you talking about?"

Claire sighed and looked off into the windy plain, "They always say that war is never as black and white as being a battle of good versus evil. That good people fight for the wrong reasons and for the wrong people, and you know what?" She said turning back to him, "I believed it for the longest time over there, and I like to think that it was true for the most part. I don't know if we changed or if we had been that way all along, but on that day when we took Gold village, burnt it to the ground and killed every living person in it, I knew we were the bad guys." She confessed, "Maybe it was like you said, about our own survival, or maybe we had always been that way. I remember our first day of combat, I watched as our friends executed wounded soldiers bleeding in the mud. I couldn't believe it, and I was so angry and disgusted with it but it wasn't long before I no longer cared and even did it myself." Claire felt a catch in her throat which she quickly cleared.

"That's war Claire. It's supposed to be ugly." Cloud put it simply. "I didn't kill anyone who hadn't tried to kill me."

"You and I didn't...but...that bridge," Her eyes stared hard into the ground, "All those women and children." The images of the bloodied bridge with massacred civilians returning to her. "Sure, we weren't the ones who killed them, but then again-I never tried to stop it."

"Claire.." Cloud said in a low tone with a deep frown.

"So no...I don't want to do this anymore, and I can't see how you still do."

Cloud shook his head in irritation and looked back out into the horizon. They had both been affected by the events in Wutai in different ways, this had become apparent now. Claire had no problems adjusting at first, but as time went on, she was finding it harder to push certain things from her mind. While Cloud was both frightened and confused from his experiences, it also strengthened his resolve to continue down his path towards SOLDIER. He now knew that he had what it took to survive in combat and was able to adapt and overcome his fears and weaknesses. He had come a long way since he first stepped off the bus for basic training. No longer was he a scared and timid boy with dreams barely able to withstand self-doubt. He was growing up, and although he was by no means old, he felt old. He would not forget Wutai or what he experienced there, but at the same time he would not dwell on it, as Claire was struggling with.

"I never knew you felt this way." Cloud admitted. She hadn't changed, as far as he could tell. She was still the cynical girl he had met two years before. But only now was she aware of her own corruption and loss of innocence.

"You still want to be in SOLDIER don't you?" She asked to which he nodded. "I-I just don't understand anymore. I mean, you went to Wutai, you fought in battles, survived to make it home just like Sephiroth did. You've done exactly what he did...was it glamorous or heroic? What more do you need to do?" Cloud remained silent as Claire's scowl deepened. "I know I give you a hard time about wanting to join SOLDIER all the time but you've literally done what Sephiroth has done. What more do you need to do? Is joining SOLDIER really going to make a difference?"

"I still like this job. It's not the nicest at times but I'm going to stick with it." He replied stubbornly, "I'm not going to argue with you about this again." Claire stood up and breathed deep as she walked over to the garden, needing a moment to calm down. "I'm going to join that new unit." Cloud told her as he followed after. "At the very least it might keep me from ending up in Condor. I was hoping you would come with me."

Claire gave a halfhearted smile as she looked down at the rows of plants. "I don't really think it's for me."

"Claire." He said softly as he touched her arm. She looked up to see a somewhat desperate look on his face. "We've done everything together, basic...battleschool...those crappy battalion field exs. We survived Wutai. I haven't done a single thing as a guardsmen without you there." He took a deep breath and paused as she stared at him. "But I don't think we would have made it through any of those things without each other. And I don't know how I'll make it through the next without you. I know you're having a hard time coming to terms with what we just came back from...but you're a good person, whether you believe it or not. It's easy to tell with how you are with your mom and sister. I haven't even as much as written my mother a letter since I left, what does that say about me?" He huffed, "What I'm trying to say is that...you're my best friend, and that I care about. And I want you to come with me." Cloud finished with a small hopeful smile.

His touching words were almost enough to change her mind but she shook her head and had to tell him no. "I'm sorry." She said quietly, "I have one year left on my contract with Shinra. After that I won't be re-signing. If I join that new unit they'll make me sign another four years." She explained as she watched Cloud's heart sink. "I'll go to Condor if they send me and if I make it back..." She paused, "...That's it." She said with a shake of her head. Cloud nodded slowly as he looked away. "You'll be fine without me." She said putting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a slight squeeze. She walked past him and into the house, leaving him standing alone in the windy garden.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Once again sorry about the wait. I'll try to update more often.<br>**_


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